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It took a moment for me to figure how to return to the darkness. Before I had reached it when traveling into Drogon's body. But now there was no mind I was reaching for. After taking a deep breath it felt like there was a hidden door that I could now see. It was heavy and cold as if it were doing its best to repel me. While I wanted to instantly give up on my mission, that wasn't possible. All of Westeros was depending on me to figure out who the nothing was. If, in fact, the entity was an actual person. Jon and everyone else needed to know if Bran Stark was an enemy.
With all my might I shoved against the door. Each time my shoulder slammed into it there was the sound of thunder and the feel of the earth moving underneath me. This was all in my mind and none of what I was feeling could actually be happening. This wasn't about fighting against the door, it was about facing my own mind. Though fear soaked into the deepest parts of me, I focused on the door opening. If I truly believed the door just opening was possible, it would be. While focusing on the door opening I held out my hand. The door opened as if a great gust of wind had given it no choice in the matter.
Before any doubt could make me recoil, I flung myself through the door. This experience felt much different than before. Maybe because of the different planes needed to get to other minds and finding an entity that lived in the darkness. That was another thing that was different about this time: there was no darkness.
My mind felt as if it were seeing all aspects of the world at once. Yet none of my senses could properly say what I was seeing. If I had a stomach in this version of myself I would have vomited. I was being turned every way and yet staying still. I was moving by the simple act of standing still. Not knowing what would happen, I consciously tried to move and found things stabilizing. My mind felt the cold of the Far North and the heat of Essos at the same time. It was good not to feel sick but how would I get to the nothing from here?
Deciding to look more at this version of reality before searching for Bran, I started to focus more on what I was feeling. There was a sense of shame and I followed the feeling. Suddenly I saw myself and Lynesse fleeing into exile. Even though I had shamed my House beyond reason, I still would not take Longclaw. It was mine no longer and that was something I accepted. The next moment Lynesse left me for a wealthier man and there was no anger in my mind anymore. She had made her decision which had led me to serving Khaleesi. Though, I admit, the thought of her suffering now would make me happy.
Through the many miles of memory I found a trace of the darkness. Fear made my mind cold but my honor wouldn't let me turn back now. While wanting to turn away, I started to push through the boundary that separated me from the nothing. But before I could break through a force pushed me back into the landscape of memory. As I spiraled through past, present, and future there was a laughter that shook my mind. It must be the nothing was toying with me until it decided to speak. How much did it know about me, my love, and all those who would stop at nothing to destroy it? And if it knew we were after it, would it be afraid or merely amused?
Suddenly I saw things that were in the present and did not involve me. My mind, possibly helped by the nothing, was able to expand its sight. In the matter of moments I saw the day to day events of King's Landing. The rats had the same importance as soldiers. It took awhile, or possibly only a moment, to take control. My mind then went quickly to the Red Keep and to Cersei Lannister. If I could find out her strategy it would be just as valuable as any information about the nothing I could find.
Cersei had allied herself with Euron Greyjoy to help better herself. But the king had never seemed to be anything resembling trustworthy. Indeed this vision showed he had betrayed her and was doing his best to kill her. It was too hard to hear his voice but his body language indicated he was having fun taunting the Lannister.
How could I feel for Cersei's situation? She had been foolish to think that Euron could ever be trusted. That she could ever control him. There should be hate coursing through my mind's version of veins. Instead I felt pity for her and prayed she would survive this fight. The moment the Greyjoy held a sword to her throat I realized how much I had underestimated her. The Mountain had been hiding in the shadows for her signal which meant she had planned for this turn of events.
Suddenly Euron moved just as the Mountain was about to decapitate him. The man was not able to fight fairly and started to run away while trying desperately to maintain his dignity. Cersei must have called her guard back as Euron was able to escape with his fleet. Or maybe he had made a move that assured him he would survive to see another day.
Cersei and Euron were no longer a united front. Like Khaleesi and her dragons, the Lannister was not as powerful without allies. She could make all the speeches but she could not send an army after my queen. Yet she did still present dangers. She had wormed her way to the Iron Throne which meant to underestimate her was to court death.
JORAH. A great voice said and suddenly I was in darkness. YOU CANNOT BE SO WEAK AS TO BE DISTURBED BY A SIMPLE PUSH.
"You were testing me?" I asked and nearly jumped at the sound of my own voice.
In this darkness, with the nothing in front of me, my body had been returned to me. I must have been so focused on my missing body on a subconscious level that it had been returned to me. At least in this reality. It was hard to understand seeing out of my eyes and having hands instead of paws. Even though my greatest desire was to rediscover my body, that wasn't why I was here. Khaleesi and the others were waiting for my answer.
"Who are you?" I asked.
YOU CAN CALL ME BRAN STARK. The nothing said and it felt like he waved his hand dismissively. THAT WILL BE BEST FOR NOW. I PREFER TO BE CALLED THE THREE-EYED RAVEN NOWADAYS. IT FITS THIS PERSONA BETTER.
I could feel Bran in the voice. The truth would break Jon's heart and I was loathe to return with the truth. He had been holding on to hope of his brother being innocent. Now to destroy the nothing, we would have to kill Bran. Though it seemed impossible that killing the boy would be enough to destroy this entity.
"So you inhabit the body of Bran Stark?" I asked. "Are you merely a demon possessing him?"
DO YOU WANT TO MAKE MY MURDER MORE PALPABLE TO YOUR SENSES? Bran retorted. LET US MAKE THIS MEETING BE BETWEEN FRIENDS AND NOT ENEMIES. YOU HAVE SO MUCH PROMISE IN YOUR FUTURE THAT IT WOULD BE A WASTE TO DIE RIGHT NOW. OR LATER. DEPENDING ON THIS CONVERSATION.
The boy was correct. I wanted any delusion to believe I wasn't actually killing Bran once we had our fight. Once I helped save the world from a great darkness. Yet, like Jon, I would have to accept the truth and do what needed to be done. Sometimes doing the honorable thing meant crossing lines and getting blood on one's own hands.
"We should have let the Night King kill you." I said sadly. "The world would have been safer then. Once he killed you, we would have killed him in turn."
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A WISE DECISION, JORAH. Bran agreed. BUT YOU DID NOT AND NOW YOU STAND BEFORE ME. IT WAS GOOD SEEING THE ONLY CREATURE THAT COULD DESTROY ME DIE. IT WAS SO EASY TO GIVE MELISANDRE A FALSE VISION SO THAT ARYA STARK WOULD HAVE THE COURAGE TO KILL THE NIGHT KING.
"So she isn't Azor Ahai?" I asked and was rewarded with a cruel laugh.
AZOR AHAI IS STILL ALIVE. Bran replied once he was done laughing. BUT I DOUBT THE VILLAIN WILL EVER DARE ATTACK ME. THE PERSON IS SMART, BUT NOT SMART ENOUGH TO ATTACK ME.
The prophesied hero was still alive! If we found this man or woman then all could be saved. But with Bran aware of me and knowing I wasn't his ally any longer, it would be impossible to find this person in time. Yet we had to find this person so that Westeros could survive another day. We would sacrifice everything so that humanity lived for many more generations.
THE NIGHT KING WAS AN IMPRESSIVE HUMAN, IF A NUISANCE. Bran said. SOMEHOW, BEYOND ALL THE WISDOM OF THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST, HE WAS ABLE TO RETAIN HIS HUMANITY. HE WAS ABLE TO RESIST AND SLOWLY GATHER OTHERS TO HIS CAUSE. HE WAS ABLE TO TURN HIS POWERS AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. HE AND HIS ARMY BECAME SUCH A THREAT WE HAD TO CALL THE HUMANS TO OUR AID.
From the moment I had heard about the Night King there was no doubt in my mind that he was a villain. That it was up to all of us at Winterfell to kill him so that humanity would be safe. That the battle at the home of House Stark would matter more than any other bloodbath I had been a part of. Yet Bran told a story of a heroic man that resisted his enslavement so that humans could still live in Westeros. He had no reason to tell me such a lie and so this was the truth. When I returned back to Ghost's body would anyone believe me? Would anyone want to celebrate the Night King's sacrifice?
Was the Night King Azor Ahai? Had we killed the only one who could stop Bran? No, the Stark had said the hero was still alive. I wondered what would have happened if the Night King had tried to end Bran's life in the godswood. Obviously the man could end the boy's life as he had cried the Night King had to die.
"Why aren't you worried that Azor Ahai will kill you?" I asked.
YOU WONDER IF I AM LYING. Bran asked with a chuckle. THE NIGHT KING IS ONE OF THE FEW THAT COULD STOP ME. BUT IF AZOR AHAI SET THEIR MIND TO IT, THEY COULD KILL ME. I WOULD BE POWERLESS TO STOP THEM IF THEY FOCUSED ALL THEIR EMOTIONS ON KILLING ME. I AM NOT WORRIED BECAUSE THE HERO DOES NOT HAVE THAT FOCUS. IN THE FUTURE THEY MIGHT, BUT NOT NOW.
"If there is a prophecy saying Azor Ahai will kill you, he will."
A PROPHECY JUST MEANS THAT AN EVENT IS MORE LIKELY TO OCCUR THAN OTHERS. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PROPHECIES OVER COUNTLESS MILLENNIA TO NEVER HAPPEN. HUMANS THINK THAT MEANS PROPHECIES ARE WRONG, WHEN THAT IS NOT THE CASE.
There was fear in Bran's voice. He was attempting to lie to me. He wanted me to feel helpless when the truth was he was afraid of Azor Ahai coming after him. He might be correct about prophecies as a whole, but the Azor Ahai Prophecy would never let him sleep. I felt it was only his ego that stopped him from killing the hero outright.
But something other than his fear made the story feel untrue...
"If the Night King aimed to save humanity, why kill so many of us?" I asked. "He could have asked for our help. He could have told us that the Children of the Forest were the true enemy but he didn't."
HE DIDN'T KILL BECAUSE IT PLEASED HIM. Bran replied with a sigh. BUT HE HAD NO CHOICE AS HE NEEDED A LARGE ENOUGH ARMY TO KILL THE CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. THERE WAS NO OPTION FOR HIM TO GET SUCH A LARGE ARMY EXCEPT BY KILLING SO THAT HE COULD RESURRECT THE NEEDED TROOPS. THE WHITE WALKERS WERE HIS COMMANDERS THAT HELPED HIM PLAN EACH BATTLE TO PERFECTION. THE WIGHTS WERE MERELY PAWNS TO KILL AND DIE WITHOUT HARMING THOSE IN COMMAND. SORT OF LIKE HUMAN ARMIES IN SOME RESPECTS.
"And what about talking with humans?"
THE NIGHT KING AND THE WHITE WALKERS DID THEIR BEST TO COMMUNICATE. BUT THEIR LANGUAGE CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD BY ANY LIVING THING WHICH HAMPERED NEGOTIATIONS WITH THOSE UNINTERESTED IN THE TRUTH. CRASTER WAS ONE OF THE FEW HUMANS THAT ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE TRUE HERO OF HUMANITY.
I knew of Craster and how my father had allowed him to continue. Yet the incestuous man had cared not for humanity and only for his perverted desires. He cared only to be left alone and to help the Night's Watch when needed. To think that this man had helped those desiring humanity's freedom was hard for me to understand.
THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD PEOPLE ON EITHER SIDE IN EVERY CONFLICT EVER FOUGHT. Bran mocked me. DID YOU SAY THAT OR SOMETHING SIMILAR? YOUR EXACT WORDS DO NOT MATTER. HOWEVER, YOUR STATEMENT SHOULD HAVE WARNED YOU ABOUT THE TRUE CONFLICT OF THIS WORLD. THE NIGHT KING WAS NOT ALWAYS HONORABLE AS WERE HUMANS. AS WERE YOU.
Honor was a forgotten art to most. The majority of people started out with a good cause and then slowly broke apart as the gods toyed with them. It usually didn't take much for people to start to leave honor behind when it suited them. I did my best to uphold my honor but if a situation called for a more callous approach, that was what I chose. I would never die because of being honorable. Except for Khaleesi...
Khaleesi and the others would need to hear this. Bran seemed even more impossible to kill than before. It had taken the Night King time to gather an army and then he had been pushed back behind the Wall. After that setback it had taken him countless generations to gather a big enough army to kill the Children of the Forest and the last Three-Eyed Raven. How was I or anyone besides Azor Ahai supposed to have a chance at killing this monster?
YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY, JORAH MORMONT. Bran replied calmly. YOU ARE NOT HUMAN AND THEREFORE NOT BOUND TO THE RULES OF THAT FLESH.
"You wanted me like this!" I yelled. "There was a way to return me to my body even after Melisandre died, wasn't there?"
OF COURSE THERE WAS. BUT YOU ARE MUCH BETTER AS A SPIRIT THAN A MERE MAN. YOU ARE BETTER IN THE BODY OF A DIREWOLF THAN THAT OF A MAN. THE TRANSITION WILL BE ROUGH BUT I FORESEE A FUTURE WHERE YOU WILL BECOME COMFORTABLE IN YOUR NEW REALITY AND BECOME MORE POWERFUL. YOU WILL START TO SEE FROM MY POINT OF VIEW ONE DAY.
"And where will you be in that future?"
I CANNOT SEE MYSELF BUT IT IS CERTAIN I AM THERE. MY THOUGHTS OF YOU MUST BE BLOCKING EVERYTHING ELSE FROM MY MIND. NOTHING CAN KILL ME. NOT EVEN AZOR AHAI. YOU MUST LEARN TO LET GO OF IDLE HOPE. EMBRACE WHAT YOU ARE NOW, JORAH, AND GIVE UP THOUGHTS OF YESTERDAY.
Was Bran saying he admired me to the point I blocked everything out of his mind? Had he truly been doing his best to protect me? Even if his ways were twisted. Or did I have a great future ahead of me?
"Azor Ahai will kill you." I said defiantly. "I will find him and he will kill you. You are scared of him."
AZOR AHAI ALREADY KNOWS OF ME. Bran said and laughed. THE FOOL HAS STOOD FACE TO FACE WITH ME AND DONE NOTHING. YOU CANNOT COUNT ON SUCH A PERSON TO FINISH WHAT THE NIGHT KING STARTED. BETTER RUN OFF TO BEAR ISLAND AND ALLOW ME TO RULE. THERE IS NO CHANCE OF STOPPING ME.
Suddenly I was in Ghost's body and panting. Khaleesi, Jon, and Tyrion all looked at me in anticipation. I didn't know how much time had actually passed as time felt much different where Bran was. It felt like mere seconds and lifetimes had passed me by. Without the ability to talk normally, my mind had to be quiet for me to speak. No need for Khaleesi to feel the utter fear that coursed through my veins.
"Jorah?" Khaleesi asked with worry in her voice. "Who is the nothing?"
[The nothing is Bran Stark.] I replied and curled up into a ball. [It is him. It is a child of House Stark.]
"What did he say?" Jon inquired.
There was silence as Khaleesi rubbed her head. I had accidentally put too much emotions into my thoughts. She wasn't screaming in pain which meant I had done my job at protecting her from the full truth. My love and queen didn't need to know the true horror that was Bran Stark.
"The nothing is Bran Stark." Khaleesi said and stared at Jon. "You can't run from the truth anymore. You must face it or else all our people will die."
Jon let out a loud cry, I stayed curled in a ball, Khaleesi tried to look strong, and Tyrion walked out of the room to presumably search for more wine. Much more wine.
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