Chapter 33 - The Boy Who Killed the Monster.
Chapter 33 - The Boy Who Killed the Monster.
[Chapter Size: 3300 Words.]
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Third Person POV
North, 100 AC.
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Lyarra rode with her son and her brother, Lord Reed, for about three days. Even though they were fast, they did not have a smooth journey. They simply rode all day long, stopping only to set up camp at night.
"You seem to be worrying more and more about the boy. I know, but tomorrow we'll finally be there..." Lyarra heard her brother, Mort Mormont, and sighed silently while they sat before the campfire that night.
She knew he was right. Only a few dozen kilometers remained before they finally reached the region where the boy lived.
"I'm afraid the boy might do something stupid. You don't know him... you have no idea how stubborn that boy is. I'm afraid he'll run into that forest after learning that his father died..." she murmured while her brother listened, seeming to understand her concern.
"You did the same thing... when our father died back then..." Mort commented. Their father had been slain by wildlings, and at the time Lyarra had run away from home with an axe, crossing beyond the Wall in a small boat. Mort and their other brothers had to go after her before she got lost in that frozen wilderness.
"I know..." was all she said.
"You can tell how much you care about the boy," he commented.
"He is family," she simply replied.
"I know he is, but you understand what I mean. Not just any common boy would be adopted by the Starks, no matter how interesting he might be. Even more so when my sister and her family consider him an equal despite his origins," he said while staring at his sister.
"Here, mother." Before Lyarra could respond, her son Rodrik appeared with a pot of broth that the soldiers had prepared.
She accepted it while he walked away to get more for himself.
After eating a little, she turned her attention back to her brother and answered the previous question.
"Jon is an extraordinary boy. I don't say that only because of his frightening intelligence or how easily he absorbs everything they teach him in the yard, but because he brought something to our family that I didn't even realize was missing. Somehow, Jon manages to bring people together like a bridge, filling the spaces between us and becoming part of everything naturally, as if he had always belonged among the Starks. Even among us, there are those who look down on him, like Bennard, who never seems to hide his prejudice toward Jon for being common-born or even a bastard, while he prefers to value connections with other sons of Northern lords."
"That grandson of yours, Bernard, certainly seems like a southerner," her brother grumbled, interrupting Lyarra's train of thought.
"I know... he takes becoming Lord of Winterfell even more seriously than his older brother does. That's somewhat worrying," she did not fail to notice her brother's warning, having already had a few conversations with Benjen about it.
"But anyway, getting back to Jon... he manages to be loved by everyone so easily. My other two grandchildren, Rickon treats him like a brother even closer than Bennard, and Lyra follows him around all the time like a little sister. Benjen and my own children like him too. And I see him as family as well," she admitted.
"Well then, if the boy has truly found a place in my sister's heart, I see no reason not to help him too," he declared with a wild smile.
"Who needs your help? I could handle this on my own. You're already meddling enough here," she growled while the man merely shrugged.
She soon became serious again... "But you know... I'm afraid Jon may see his father dead in that bed... There's no doubt the boy has already reached the farm..." Lyarra did not want to imagine the worst.
"And what if he does something foolish and runs into the forest with his wolf...?" her brother wondered.
The boy had wolf blood in him, he had already proven that in Winterfell... He could very well seek revenge against the monstrous creature they had heard about.
"Well, I hope that doesn't happen, but if Jon went into the forest more than a day ago... there's nothing we can do." She closed her eyes, imagining that the boy would only find his death there. She feared that in her heart, but there would be nothing she could do if the boy had already done it... "But if we can rescue him, we'll go in there and kill that damned creature!" she said with determination.
Her brother said nothing more.
Then everyone went to sleep.
The next day, they returned to riding, arriving at the village around midday, but what they did not expect was to find the place in the middle of a celebration, like a great feast.
When they arrived, everyone was in the streets to the sound of music played on simple instruments. They did not even seem to notice that Stark banners had just entered the village.
Only when a few men noticed their arrival did they immediately run over to greet them.
"My lords! Starks! And Mormonts, Reeds! You are here!" said a villager.
"Hello, my boy," Lyarra said as she stepped forward with her horse. "Can you tell me exactly what is happening here?" she asked.
"Of course! We are celebrating the death of the Great Beast. It's already been a few days, but there still seems to be no end to its meat, so the whole village gathered together for a feast and a festival!" the man explained.
"The meat of the Great Beast...? You mean the bear? The men of the village killed the bear?" she asked in surprise, while everyone behind her exchanged equally shocked looks.
Obviously, there was only one Great Beast in that region, and it was the man-killing bear of the forest.
"Exactly, my lady! But the one who killed it was the boy, Guren's son!! He went alone into the forest seeking vengeance for what the bear did to his father and the other men of the village. He hunted the creature with so many arrows that he turned the monster into a porcupine!" the man said as though he were telling a great legend. "You are here to fetch him, I imagine, since he is Winterfell's ward. The boy is a hero!" he added.
The woman felt her voice vanish, almost like her own breath. She could not immediately process what she had just heard.
Her eyes turned toward her brother, Mort, who merely shrugged, not knowing what to say.
Her son beside her looked just as stunned as she was.
"It seems the boy surprised us," Lord Reed was the one who broke the silence while riding closer to Lyarra.
It took Lyarra a few seconds to finally recover her voice. "Yes... we are from Winterfell. We came to check on the boy. Can you take us to him?" she asked.
"Of course! Come with me, lords and ladies!" the man replied in an overly cheerful manner. Most likely he was already drunk.
They followed along the main street while more people noticed their presence and stepped out of the way.
In the middle of the village there was a great bonfire, where meat was being roasted and cut upon a massive table while people helped themselves freely. Children ran everywhere and young couples danced to the music played by a few instruments in one of the corners.
There was a great deal of meat and blood scattered around, but what truly surprised all of them was the enormous bear's head hanging upon a platform for everyone to see.
The bear's head had already been stuffed over the past few days using a rudimentary taxidermy technique employed by Northern hunters. The hide had been treated with salt, smoke, and herbs, while the inside of the head had been preserved over a hardened structure, preventing it from rotting or giving off any smell.
All the riders stopped to observe the monster.
"By the gods... do you believe the boy fought against that?" Rodrik could not help but comment beside his mother.
Lyarra remained silent.
Obviously, their arrival had drawn the attention of the entire village. As they passed following the man, people stopped eating, dancing, and talking just to watch them.
The man appeared before them again after speaking with a few villagers before approaching.
"My lady, the boy returned to the farm. He heard that his father woke up and went home. He was here until just a little while ago with his family. Shall I take you there?" he asked. 1
But Lyarra shook her head. "No need. My son has already been there, he will show the way."
She asked Rodrik to guide them while all the villagers bowed before them.
Then they continued across the village to its far end, advancing toward the farm, which was about a kilometer away.
When they arrived, several people came out to see them.
Jon himself appeared surprised, somewhat startled, especially upon seeing Lyarra Stark.
"Lady Stark..." he said.
She immediately dismounted her horse and approached him.
"Lady Stark? I already told you that you can call me grandmother," she complained. They were not in a formal place.
Then she moved even closer, quickly checking whether he was hurt.
But Jon seemed completely fine.
"Grandmother..." he said in an embarrassed tone.
Ghost also emerged from somewhere, rising and approaching while everyone's eyes turned toward the enormous white wolf.
Rowena appeared right behind him to greet them. "Lady Stark!" she said in surprise.
"Look at this girl." Lady Stark said to Jon's mother before turning her attention back to him.
"What did you do, Jon? Tell me. I heard you hunted that bear alone! Is that true?" she asked in a rather stern tone.
Jon seemed a little awkward, but nodded. "Yes... mother even hit me for it," he replied embarrassed.
Lyarra stared deeply at him. There was not a trace of falsehood in his words.
She merely took a deep breath and pulled him into a hug.
"Boy... you have no idea of the trouble you caused in Winterfell by running away like that. You cannot imagine how worried you made us. And certainly my son, Lord Stark, will prepare a severe punishment for you."
"Sorry... but I needed to go. I do not regret it," Jon replied.
"At least the boy has spirit," Mort commented from behind while also approaching.
"I still cannot believe you really killed that bear alone. Was it truly you who did it?" Rodrik also stepped closer and asked, staring at Jon as though daring him to lie.
"It was him, my lord. On the first day he came here, Jon lied to me saying he wanted to gather some herbs in the forest. Then he armed himself with arrows and went with Ghost to hunt the bear. He returned four hours later carrying the creature's head. I would never have allowed it if I had known. The moment I realized he had run away, I panicked," Rowena explained.
Rodrik looked at her and then turned his eyes back to Jon.
"You little brat... you faced that creature while all of us merely ran from it years ago."
Jon looked at him and stuck out his tongue, immediately receiving a smack on the head from the Stark.
"Do not get too full of yourself."
"Stop that," Lyarra interrupted her son before turning her attention back to Jon. "You have no idea how reckless you were... but I'm glad you're alright," she said while stroking his hair and face.
"And that gigantic head? What do you intend to do with it? We saw that it was preserved, it is quite a prize, boy." Mort approached and asked curiously while Lyanna silently observed the boy.
"So... I asked Owen for help stuffing it. He knows the technique and requested some materials yesterday. I intend to give it as a gift to Lord Stark as a way to make up for my offense for fleeing the castle in the middle of the Harvest Feast and causing some problems that I imagine happened," Jon explained.
Lyarra clicked her tongue. "Well... it seems we taught you too well. You even know how to deal with nobles now." She said it, but she seemed pleased about it.
"I know Lord Stark will be angry because of this, but it would be bad to appear before the other lords without offering something. I believe it is a fitting gift, considering everything the Starks have done for me," Jon replied.
Lyarra nodded. "He is going to look quite foolish when he sees a bear's head being carried into Winterfell. That same bear killed him once, remember?" she commented approvingly.
In the eyes of the lords, that truly would be considered a fitting gift coming from a boy after fleeing Winterfell. And it would also make for a good tale.
"Besides, I kept all the bear's hide and fur. Owen managed to skin it for me. I want to make some cloaks out of it."
"Very well. We will see about that when we return. But since we are here for the first time, why don't we rest a little? I would love to have some tea with your mother, if she does not mind speaking with me..." Lyarra said while Rowena nodded.
"It would be an honor, Lady Stark." she said, with Sam, who had already approached, clinging to her legs.
Lyarra looked at the seven-day-named boy and smiled. He was not as impressive as Jon, unfortunately. He did not have the boy's appearance or that mysterious noble aura.
"Grandmother, come with me first. Let me show you the heart tree that grew behind our house," Jon asked cheerfully as he remembered it.
Lyarra immediately gave him a warm smile. "Of course."
"Well, you already know... rest a little while we intend to stay at the farm for some time. I know we will have to return immediately before nightfall, but I would like to hear the whole story about the bear," she said.
Jon nodded while guiding her to the heart tree together with the other Northerners.
In the end, Lyarra ended up entering the house with Rowena, drinking mead beer that had been produced in the village and accepting the roasted meat they brought as well, while Jon showed the farm to Mort Mormont, Rodrik, and Lord Reed, all of them curious to know more about how he had hunted the giant bear alone, with Ghost following the group.
Mort seemed quite interested in the boy, as though trying to understand why his sister adored him so much.
Meanwhile, Garen had awakened in the bed where he lay only a few hours earlier.
That was the reason he had already left the celebration in the village, which had lasted for two days thanks to the enormous quantity of bear meat being used before it spoiled.
When he woke up, his brother was at home and heard his shout. He could not believe what he heard after asking the most obvious questions.
One moment, he had been living through a nightmare of a bear slaughtering his companions that night. The next, he was now lying in bed with bandages over the bear bite that had not killed him for some unknown reason.
His brother had managed to find him thanks to Jon's animals, difficult as that was to believe, and had simply carried him and the bodies of his dead companions back to the farm.
He had been in grave condition and could have died, but Jon appeared the following morning after fleeing Winterfell and managed to help the healer treat him.
However, even after all of that, what truly shocked him was the fact that his son had gone to hunt that creature alone in search of vengeance.
That still deeply disturbed him. And by some miracle, he had not only survived, but had also killed the beast where they now stood.
While thinking about all of that, he was scolding his son for acting that way, still unable to believe the story. He knew Stark riders had arrived at the farm searching for Jon.
They went to see, and afterward Rowena informed him who they were. His wife was keeping Lady Stark company in the kitchen, and they decided to enter the room together.
Garen first looked at his wife and then at the older but clearly noble woman, someone Garen knew well.
"Lady Stark, I would kneel, but I am somewhat weakened..." he began before the woman said something, showing a sad smile. He knew her because he had already gone to Winterfell and knew the Stark family, although he did not interact much with them besides Benjen Stark.
"So you are Jon's father," said Lyarra, studying him. If she were comparing him to the son he had managed to produce, she would certainly be disappointed.
"I imagine you already know what my boy did by now," Garen murmured carefully.
"Yes... and it was quite reckless, before you say anything else." She spoke in a dry tone.
"I know... I woke up learning that my son faced the bear that left me in this state and also killed several men before my eyes. My boy survived and killed that thing without a scratch, somewhat difficult to believe, I imagine..." he said in a defeated tone.
"No one is going to believe that, although it will make for a good song and people love heroes, especially when it is about a boy of ten namedays..." she hummed.
"I know Jon was reckless, but in the end he managed to kill the creature after everything. I believe your son truly could have done what he said. He told me he did it because he wanted to protect the farm and his family. I believe him..."
"That only shows how incompetent I can be as a father. I could not protect my son... nor myself, much less my family," he murmured.
"Well, it is not as though all of us can simply kill a bear like that every day, right? The boy said he used the wolf, which seems quite reasonable. And I am glad he followed some tactics he learned from Maester Lorren, and that it gave him some ideas on how to face a creature like that," she commented before making a brief pause.
"And I am glad you are alive, Garen. I know Jon would not be able to bear losing his father and would be devastated by it. But I am still very curious... could you tell me exactly how Jon knew you were in danger and how he found you? Rowena said—and most likely Jon did something that night, the bear did not kill you for some reason from what I understood... And she explained a little, but did not go into detail about the animals that simply led your brother to you in the middle of that forest while you were dying... It is all very curious..."
Lyarra truly wanted to understand more about the special little boy who had entered Winterfell over the past two years.
She wanted to understand why he was so different.
And all that chaos only proved even more that Benjen had made the right choice in taking him in.
Garen had no choice but to nod and begin telling everything that had happened. The Stark family had already proven more than enough that they held no ill intentions toward Jon.
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