Chapter 19 - The Wall (I)
"Fear is a good way to control people, but it's not the most effective." Aenar Targaryen.
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Letting out a cloud of white air through his mouth, Jon looked at his surroundings and saw only the whiteness of thin snow wherever he looked. Closer and closer to the Wall, the intense cold intensified.
If the low temperature was deadly for any human being, he really wanted to know how the Wild Ones survived beyond the Wall.
Jon looked around him and soon spotted a clearing not far away; from the stones placed there, it was a camp that everyone heading towards the Wall passed.
Getting off his horse, Jon gently stroked the neck of the beautiful animal that had carried him here. "Good boy."
Tying the horse's reins to a tree, Jon took his sword - Lady Lya - from the horse and put it at his waist. This place wasn't Winterfell, there could be Wildlings who, with luck, had crossed the Wall and entered the North. He couldn't just stay unarmed in a place like this.
Taking out his fire-starting tools, Jon expertly lit a fire and enjoyed the warmth of the orange flames with his horse.
Jon took out a sack containing dried meat and ate it without a second thought while helping his horse eat what was available, frozen leaves and grass.
It had been three days since he had left Winterfell and from his map, he should be about a few kilometers from the Long Lake. Honestly, the journey time was shorter than he had expected, but as the snow was low, the journey went surprisingly quickly.
It seemed that the weather wanted him to arrive at Castle Black as soon as possible. "I have to be careful to cover my face, some are soldiers who fought alongside my father in the war, they might recognize me." Jon muttered to himself as he looked up to see a light snow falling from the sky.