Chapter 507: Trap
"Night is coming, and my watch begins now."
"I am the sword in the darkness, the guardian on the Wall."
"I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, this night and all nights to come."
Under the heart tree with drifting snowflakes, the Night's Watch oath resounds.
Since Aegon conquered the Seven Kingdoms, an unprecedented two hundred new recruits have joined the Night's Watch.
And most of them come from the kingdom's elite forces, many made up of the Raven's Teeth soldiers.
Their mission is to escort a noble to this place.
It is the honorable Maester Aemon, who could have been king but declined and renounced his surname.
With him is a criminal, the former Hand of Kings Aerys I and Maekar I, 'Bloodraven' Brynden Rivers. He was dismissed and sentenced to death by King Aegon V for his plot against Daemon Blackfyre.
The world before Viserys changed.
He was just in a conversation, but suddenly found himself here. Yet, Viserys was calm. He looked around, taking in his surroundings.
He knew the Three-Eyed Raven had the power to traverse time, but even with Viserys' extensive historical knowledge, he couldn't identify the era.
However, with his exceptional memory, noticing the two hundred plus Night's Watch recruits, he spotted two familiar faces, as if he had seen them somewhere.
Before Viserys could identify these two, an old voice sounded from behind him.
"That man is me."
"The oldest in the group."
In the blinding snowstorm, the silver-haired youth standing in front of the weirwood turned slightly to look behind him.
On a nearby branch, a raven with shimmering crimson eyes groomed its feathers, gazing at Viserys.
This scene seemed familiar.
Viserys recalled a conversation with Brynden Rivers in a cave, interrupted by a Three-Eyed Raven landing nearby.
"Was I ensnared at that moment?"
The silver-haired youth silently gazed at the raven before speaking.
He then turned to see an old man in a black robe with white hair, looking at him with dim eyes.
"Indeed, you weren't careful, Viserys."
"Though my psychic abilities are not as strong as yours, with the weirwood, I can bring you here."
The two hundred Night's Watch recruits finished their oaths and dispersed.
Among them, the elderly Brynden Rivers, once the Hand to two kings, was sent to the Wall at fifty-eight.
Another, with silver hair resembling Maester Aemon, was a younger Aemon, now just thirty-five. It's hard to imagine his long tenure at the Wall.
These elite soldiers and prisoners, even the young Aemon, seemed oblivious to the two in the snow.
Only the 'young' Brynden Rivers sensed something, staring at an empty patch of snow where Viserys and the raven stood.
Bloodraven's psychic strength was potent, sensing something amiss. To others, he seemed lost in thought.
Perhaps struggling with the reality of becoming a Night's Watch recruit.
A member of the Raven's Teeth, once under Brynden's command, approached to console him.
…
"You don't seem too surprised?"
Not far, where Brynden had been looking, the Three-Eyed Raven curiously addressed the composed silver-haired youth.
"You anticipated this?"
The old man studied Viserys, narrowing his eyes.
There were two possibilities for his calmness. He either anticipated it or was confident in returning.
"Are you Brynden Rivers?"
Viserys, instead of answering, posed a question.
The old man, here not entangled by roots but a mobile person, was in his realm. His appearance could change, even to a weirwood.
The raven nodded in confirmation.
"I am."
"The last greenseer nears his end, passing the Old Gods' power to a human."
"The future Three-Eyed Raven will pass his abilities to a boy."
"Will you use the same methods on Bran Stark?"
Viserys spoke calmly. The raven didn't confirm or deny.
Viserys had read about Bloodraven, a man not simple or kind-hearted, feared by foes.
"How many eyes does Bloodraven have? A thousand, and one."
Bran, after inheriting the Three-Eyed Raven's legacy, changed dramatically. It wasn't hard to deduce why.