[North - Castle Black]

Ghost was still howling, desperate to get to his bonded human. He continued to howl louder and louder, pushing against the door to his pen.

In his chambers, Davos was alerted by Ghost's howling. He exited, then peered across the courtyard and saw a body lying in the snow, completely still.

He immediately ran down the steps, slowing as he approached the body he now recognized as Jon Snow. Other brothers of the Night's Watch approached behind him as he knelt beside Jon's body.

"It's the Lord Commander!" One of the men said as he, Dolorous Edd and a few other men rushed up behind Davos, after realizing it was their Lord Commander.

"Help me get him inside." Davos told them.

The other Night's Watch brothers picked up Jon's body and carried it away. Davos remained behind, staring at the leftover puddle of blood.

In another room, Dolorous Edd wiped the table clean, allowing the other Night's Watch brothers to place Jon's body on the table. Edd placed his hand on Jon's wounds, then brushed his eyes closed.

"Thorne did this." He told Davos as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"How many of your brothers do you think you can trust?"

"Trust? The men in this room."

"Does the wolf know you?"

Edd looked at Davos over his shoulder and nodded.

"We need all the help we can get."

As Edd moved towards the door, someone knocked on it. The Night's Watch brothers drew their blades.

"Ser Davos." It was Melisandre, or someone presenting themselves as her.

Again, Edd looked over his shoulder at Davos who nodded, allowing the Night's Watch brothers to sheathe their swords. Edd walked to the door and opened it, stepping aside to let her enter, before closing the door behind her.

She was visibly distressed when she took in Jon's body.

"I saw him in the flames, fighting at Winterfell." She said.

"I can't speak for the flames, but he's gone." Davos told her.

Melisandre touched Jon's cheek, trying to detect any warmth or sign he could be resurrected.

Meanwhile, in the mess hall, Alliser Thorne had assumed the role of acting Lord Commander, a position he felt was stolen from him by the very man who laid outside in a puddle of his own blood.

He sat at the high table among the other leaders of the Night's Watch. The rest of the Night's Watch brothers are shouting at each other.

"He was our Lord Commander!"

"He never should have been!"

Alliser pounded his fist three times on the high table, then stood, the room quieting.

"You all know why you're here. Jon Snow is dead."

"Who killed him?" One of the Night's Watchmen asked.

"I did."

The Night's Watch brothers resumed shouting.

"And Bowen Marsh and Othell Yarwyck and the other officers in this castle."

"Murderers!"

"Traitors!"

The shouting continued as Ollie walked up beside the high table.

Alliser Thorne pounded the high table again. "You're right!"

The shouting stopped.

"We've committed treason, all of us. Jon Snow was my Lord Commander. I had no love for him. That was no secret. But I never once disobeyed an order. Loyalty is the foundation on which the Night's Watch is built, and the Watch means everything to me. I have given my life, we have all given our lives to the Night's Watch. Jon Snow was going to destroy the Night's Watch. He let the wildlings through our gates, as no Lord Commander has ever done before. He gave them the very land on which they reaved and raped and murdered. Lord Commander Snow did what he thought was right, I've no doubt about that. And what he thought was right would have been the end of us. He thrust a terrible choice upon us, and we made it."

The men began to murmur among themselves.

Back in the room with Davos and the others, Ghost nudged Jon's hand and whimpered.

"He'll have seen we didn't come. Thorne will have made it official by now. Castle Black is his." Davos announced.

"I don't care who's sitting at the high table. Jon was my friend, and those fuckers butchered him. Now we return the favor." Edd replied.

"We don't have the numbers."

"We have a direwolf."

"It's not enough. I didn't know Lord Commander Snow for long, but I have to believe he wouldn't have wanted his friends to die for nothing."

"If you were planning to see tomorrow, you picked the wrong room. We all die today. I say we do our best to take Thorne with us when we go."

"We need to fight, but we don't need to die. Not if we have help."

"Who's gonna help us?" One of the other men asked.

"You're not the only ones who owe your lives to Jon Snow." Davos told them.

Edd's face washed over with realization and he turned to the Night's Watchman at his side. "Bolt the door. Don't let anyone in. I'll be back as soon as I can."

He then left through the door.

The next day, several Night's Watch brothers allied to Alliser Thorne were pointing crossbows at the room that Davos and the other Night's Watch brothers allied with Jon Snow were holed up.

Alliser Thorne approached the door to the room with several men and knocked. The Night's Watch brothers inside drew their sword and Ghost growled. Davos stood up and walked to the door.

Alliser knocked again. "Ser Davos, we have no cause to fight. We are both anointed knights."

"Hear that, lads? Nothing to fear." Davos said sarcastically.

"I will grant amnesty to all brothers who thrown down their arms before nightfall. And you, Ser Davos, I will allow you to travel south, a free man with a fresh horse."

"And some mutton. I'd like some mutton."

"What?"

"I'm not much of a hunter. I'll need some food if I'm gonna make it south without starving."

"We'll give you food. You can bring the Red Woman with you if you like. Or you can leave her here with us, whichever you choose. But surrender by nightfall or this ends with blood."

"Thank you, Ser Alliser. We'll discuss amongst ourselves and come back to you with an answer." Davos told him. "Boys, I've been running from men like that ll my life. In my learned opinion, we open that door-" Davos continued after Alliser and his men left.

"And they'll slaughter us all." One of the men said.

"They want to come in, they're gonna come in." A second added.

"Aye, but we don't need to make it easy for them."

"Edd is our only chance." The second continued.

"It's a sad fucking statement if Dolorous Edd is our only chance." The first piped up.

"There's alwys the Red Woman."

"What's one redhead gonna do against 40 armed men?"

"You haven't seen her do what I've seen her do."

As promised, Alliser Thorne and The Night's Watch members allied to him returned, poised with crossbows pointed at the room Davos and the other Night's Watch members faithful to Jon Snow were in.

Inside the room, Jon's body remained on the table.

Davos, the faithful watchmen, and Ghost were all standing, on high alert.

"It's time, Ser Davos. Open the door and the men inside can rejoin their brothers in peace. We'll even set the wolf free north of the Wall where it belongs. Nobody needs to die tonight." Thorne told them.

Davos turned to address the faithful Night's Watchmen. "I've nevr been much of a fighter." He walked over to Longclaw, Jon Snow's sword, and picked it up."Apologies for what you're about to see."

Davos unsheathed Longclaw, the men with him following suit, drawing their own blades.

Alliser Thorne turned to address a Night's Watchman. "Come on."

The Night's Watchman lifted a large hammer and walked over to the door. He began slamming the hammer against the door repeatedly, causing Ghost to growl and bark.

Davos and company readied themselves for battle. After a number of swings, the Night's Watchman with the hammer broke a hole in the door, before a loud thudding could be heard somewhere behind Alliser Thorne and company.

They turned to see what the noise was. The thudding is coming from one of the courtyard's main gates. Wun Wun, believed to be the last giant, broke down the gate and the Wildlings led by Tormund and Dolorous Edd rushed into the courtyard. The Night's Watch loyal to Alliser Thorne had bows drawn at the Wildlings but did not fire. Instead, they backed up slowly.

"Attack!" Alliser commanded, drawing his sword.

A Night's Watchman charged Tormund who cut him down. The other Night's Watch members did not retaliate.

"Fight, you cowards!" Alliser yelled again.

A Night's Watchman on a balcony shot Wun Wun in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt. Wun Wun, in turn, faced the man, grabbed him by the legs and slammed him against the wall, before tossing his body to the ground in front of Alliser Thorne.

Tormund and Dolorous Edd approached Alliser, swords drawn, after the men allied to Thorne began dropping their weaponry.

"You f*cking traitor." Alliser cursed at Dolorous Edd.

"The only traitors here are the ones who shoved their knives into their Lord Commander's heart." Edd responded.

"For thousands of years the Night's Watch has held Castle Black against the Wildlings."

"Until you." Tormund said.

Olly shouted and charged at Tormund with his sword. Tormund grabbed Olly and disarmed him, then tossed him to another man who restrained him. Two men took Alliser by the arms.

"Throw them into the cells where they belong." Edd commanded.

The men dragged Alliser, Olly, and the Night's Watch betrayers away.

Tormund, Edd, and Davos entered the room where Jon Snow's body was, staring down at him and taking in his wounds.

"Took a lot of knives. I'll have my men get the wood for a fire. Bodies to burn." Tormund said.

Davos, Tormund, Dolorous Edd, and Melisandre gathered around Jon's body. Ghost had been sleeping on the floor, but awoke as Melisandre began performing a ritual on Jon's body.

She wrung out a wet cloth with which she cleans out the wounds of Jon. She cut his hair and beard and threw the hairs in a firepit. Then she placed her hand on his chest and began uttering an incantation in a language foreign to the men; Valyrian.

"Please." She pleaded, sighing and letting her hands down slowly.

Nothing happened.

She had tears in her eyes and looked to Davos. Tormund scoffed and exited, followed by Melisandre and Dolorous Edd. Davos lingered and stared at Jon's body, but eventually exited. Ghost suddenly moved forward to look at his bonded's body, when Jon's eyes snapped open and he gasped for breath.

Little did he know, at the same moment his eyes opened, so did another pair.