Chapter 10 CHAPTER 10
A violent sensation suddenly swept through Garon's body as though the entire world had been turned upside down.
Space twisted.
Time itself seemed to reverse.
The next instant, a crushing dizziness struck him with overwhelming force.
Garon staggered forward and bent over sharply, gasping for breath while clutching his violently pounding heart. His crimson eyes scanned the surroundings warily, instantly alert despite the chaos raging inside his mind.
Everything around him had changed.
An endless darkness stretched outward in every direction, yet floating within that darkness were countless drifting green lights. The faint phosphorescence moved silently like fireflies dancing across an endless meadow, creating an eerie and dreamlike scene reminiscent of old tales told beside northern hearths.
For a moment, Garon could only stare blankly.
"What is this place?"
"What just happened?"
"That raven…"
"Could it truly be connected to the Three-Eyed Raven?"
Questions surged endlessly through his mind.
Only after several moments did his breathing gradually stabilize enough for him to stand upright once more. Suppressing the unease in his chest, Garon cautiously took a single step forward.
Crack.
The sharp sound beneath his foot startled him instantly.
Lowering his gaze, Garon froze.
Winterfell itself lay beneath his feet.
Or rather, fragments of Winterfell.
The massive castle appeared shattered like a broken mirror spread across the darkness below him. Each floating shard reflected different scenes unfolding throughout the castle.
Upon one fragment, Ned Stark knelt silently beneath the heart tree within the godswood.
Another showed Jon Snow speaking with Ser Rodrik beside the training yard.
Elsewhere, Sansa Stark sat laughing quietly with Jeyne Poole while discussing Westerosi chess.
Then Garon suddenly saw another shard.
Within it, the recent scene between himself and Catelyn Stark replayed once again.
Almost instinctively, his gaze locked onto it.
At that very moment, faint crimson light flickered within Garon's eyes.
Without his awareness, an invisible force connected him to the fragment before him.
Then the image began rewinding rapidly.
From Catelyn Stark's perspective.
Garon's pupils narrowed immediately.
The scene continued reversing until another familiar figure appeared before Lady Catelyn.
Theon Greyjoy.
Garon watched silently as Theon deliberately spoke to Catelyn about what happened earlier in the training yard. Although he could not hear every word clearly, Catelyn's increasingly ugly expression already revealed enough.
The confusion lingering within Garon's heart instantly vanished.
"So it was you…"
His expression gradually cooled.
"Theon Greyjoy."
A dangerous light flickered through his eyes.
"So you're the one secretly stirring trouble behind my back."
Cold killing intent slowly surfaced within Garon's heart.
"It seems I truly need to deal with you first."
The moment that thought fully formed in his mind, the countless floating green lights throughout the strange space suddenly began gathering together.
Like birds returning to their nest, they converged rapidly before Garon's eyes until several words slowly emerged from the glowing light itself.
"Tonight."
"Godswood."
"Meet."
The words had only just appeared when darkness suddenly swallowed everything once again.
A violent pulling sensation surged through Garon's consciousness.
Then the entire strange world shattered instantly.
"Hah…"
Garon staggered backward violently as reality returned around him.
His shoulder slammed heavily against Winterfell's cold stone wall before he managed to steady himself. The icy touch of the stone finally restored some sense of reality to his mind.
He was back.
Breathing heavily, Garon immediately raised his head and searched frantically for the raven from before.
However, the wooden perch ahead stood completely empty.
The raven had long since disappeared.
For several moments, Garon remained silent while trying to calm the turmoil inside his mind.
"Was that… an illusion?"
"Or some kind of magic created by the Three-Eyed Raven?"
Shock and confusion tangled endlessly within his thoughts.
A mysterious raven appearing within Winterfell, followed by a vision connected to green magic and shattered mirrors…
There was almost no need to guess.
The only existence Garon could think of was the Three-Eyed Raven hidden beyond the Wall.
Brynden Rivers.
Bloodraven.
The last greenseer.
Various names continuously surfaced within Garon's mind one after another.
But the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became.
"Why would the Three-Eyed Raven seek me out?"
"I haven't even had time to change much yet."
Truthfully, Garon had long expected that one day he might eventually encounter forces connected to magic and the old gods.
But he never imagined it would happen this quickly.
His expression gradually darkened.
"Could it be because I interfered with Sansa's original fate?"
"Did Bloodraven notice some major change in the future because of me?"
The thought alone made Garon's scalp tingle slightly.
After all, greenseers possessed terrifying abilities connected to prophecy and time itself.
Yet another question quickly surfaced.
"If that's true, then why did he specifically show me Theon's conversation with Catelyn?"
"And why invite me to the godswood tonight?"
The countless mysteries intertwined together until Garon found himself unable to organize his thoughts clearly.
Eventually, however, all the confusion narrowed down to one crucial question.
"Should I go tonight?"
Garon frowned deeply while silently weighing the risks within his mind.
Since transmigrating into this world, he had never truly encountered magic directly before today.
Nor did he possess any means of resisting it.
And the one inviting him was no ordinary sorcerer.
It was the last greenseer.
A being capable of watching the past through the weirwood trees themselves.
Yet after considering the matter carefully, Garon slowly realized something unavoidable.
Whether he chose to go or not changed very little.
The North itself was the domain of the old gods.
As long as weirwoods still existed, escaping the Three-Eyed Raven's observation was likely impossible.
Eventually, Garon exhaled slowly.
"Fine."
"If I cannot avoid it, then I may as well face it directly."
"I'll go to the godswood tonight and see exactly what Bloodraven wants."
Just as Garon finally made up his mind, a familiar voice suddenly called out from nearby.
"Lord Garon!"
Startled from his thoughts, Garon instinctively looked up toward the sound.
Jon Snow was walking toward him through the corridor with a broad smile on his face.
"Jon?"
Garon blinked slightly before recovering his composure.
"What are you doing here?"
After approaching, Jon explained naturally, "Robb sent me."
"Lady Catelyn pulled him away, so he asked me to continue showing you around Winterfell."
Garon immediately understood what happened.
Truthfully, his mind remained far too chaotic right now for sightseeing.
Thus, he instinctively tried to refuse.
"You really don't need to trouble yourself," Garon said casually. "I can simply walk around on my own."
However, Jon immediately shook his head.
"I already promised Robb."
"There's no way I can ignore that."
Seeing Jon's firm attitude, Garon could only give up.
For now, he temporarily suppressed the thoughts regarding the Three-Eyed Raven and began walking through Winterfell beside Jon Snow.
As they walked, Jon asked politely, "Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to see?"
After thinking briefly, Garon answered casually, "Let's visit the First Keep."
"I heard the tallest tower in Winterfell is there. From the top, you can supposedly overlook the entire castle."
Then, as though suddenly remembering something, Garon chuckled softly.
"And Jon, you can simply call me Garon."
"There's no need for such formality between us."
Jon smiled immediately.
Truthfully, he also hoped to become closer with Garon.
"You're talking about the Broken Tower," Jon explained while leading the way. "It used to be the tallest structure in Winterfell."
"But lightning struck it around a century ago, and most of the inside collapsed afterward."
"Now it's abandoned."
"Only Bran still climbs there occasionally."
Hearing this, Garon immediately recalled Bran Stark's absurd climbing talent from the original story.
At less than ten years old, Bran had already climbed nearly every wall and rooftop throughout Winterfell.
Even expert climbers from his previous world would likely be stunned by such ability.
Feigning curiosity, Garon asked, "Why would Bran climb dangerous places like that?"
"He's still so young."
Jon laughed softly while continuing forward.
"Because Bran loves climbing more than anything."
"He's climbed almost every wall in Winterfell already."
Then Jon suddenly grinned wider as though remembering something amusing.
"Once, Lord Stark punished him and ordered him to reflect quietly in the godswood."
"But the next morning, they found him asleep high inside one of the tallest trees."
As Jon recounted the story, the warmth in his expression became obvious.
Clearly, his relationship with Bran was extremely close.
Garon also smiled naturally beside him.
Then, after hesitating briefly, Jon suddenly glanced toward Garon again.
"By the way…"
His tone became noticeably more careful.
"When I came earlier, I overheard Lady Catelyn speaking."
"She seemed… unhappy with you."
Jon hesitated before continuing honestly, "Did some misunderstanding happen between the two of you?"
Clearly, he remained worried about the unpleasant atmosphere from earlier.
However, the moment Jon noticed Garon looking toward him thoughtfully, he hurriedly added another explanation.
"Garon, don't misunderstand."
"I'm not trying to pry into matters between you and Lady Catelyn…"
Before he could finish, however, Garon interrupted casually with a faint smile.
"It's nothing serious."
"Lady Catelyn simply doesn't like me very much."
Jon's footsteps paused briefly.
He looked genuinely surprised.
"She dislikes you?"
"But you're about to become engaged to Sansa."
Garon merely shrugged helplessly.
"Who knows?"
"Perhaps only the gods understand Lady Catelyn's thoughts."
Then he deliberately added with playful amusement:
"Oh, right. The Seven Gods, not the old gods."
Jon immediately understood the joke.
After all, the two of them happened to share one important similarity.
Neither was particularly welcomed by Catelyn Stark.
Realizing this, both men suddenly burst into laughter together as they continued deeper into Winterfell.