8 Sacrifices and The Sight

"You want me to kill my own family?! Is that the price the Gods want?" I asked with a rising but subdued anger in me.

"This is madness! Ned, surely you won't believe this talk of evil!" Benjen yelled.

"It is the price one must pay to serve the Gods. Do not forget the oath you have given." Styr spoke with a stoic face but the next words he said eased the tension a bit, "The magic is in the name. I remember one of my predecessors talking about your ancestors."

"When the Greystarks rebelled, your ancestors sacrificed them to the Gods and the runestone to the southeast shone for two days. Ten Stark for just one stone, that is why the lands of Manderly gave so much harvest for centuries. However, the lack of sacrifice made these lands barren once again because only blood can turn barren land into rich land."

"So they can also be from cadet branches. What about bastards?" I asked.

Benjen rose from his seat immediately but before he could say anything I interjected, "Sit Benjen, I'm not going to sacrifice Jon. I was thinking about the Stark bastards in Company of Rose."

Benjen looked at me to see whether I was telling the truth and then sat on his seat.

"The magic is bound to name, bastards are not trueborn in the eyes of Gods," said Styr.

I nodded my head and continued, "I will try to find suitable sacrifices but that doesn't mean I will sacrifice unwilling men or women." I spoke resolutely, "The offer will be made but the decision will rest with them."

I turned my eyes to Benjen, "I remember mother talking about aunt Branda. She was married to House Rogers from Stormlands."

"If she is married then her blood will be useless," said Styr before Benjen can answer.

Benjen shook his head, "Aunt Branda's husband is dead. She returned to her grandmother's lands after her mother's death. She lives with the Flints high in the mountains."

Styr nodded his head like he heard some good news, "That means she is widowed and a Stark once again."

I think this could be an opportunity. After all, if she is the older sister of my mother then she must be around 40 or 50. There might be a chance to convince her. That leaves us with three more Starks.

I think I can also convince Arnolf Karstark with a few promises. He always wished to obtain Karhold but another land can also be a viable solution for his problem.

Artos Stark's line would also be a good choice. As far as I remember, there were two cadets formed from his line; Harstarks and Barstarks. And both of his sons are still living but they are over 60 years old.

If I betroth Robb to Lord Manderly I can have them give the empty castle to the east to Harstarks. Of course, a marriage won't be enough so I could also allow them to build their own fleet to sweeten the deal. Since Brandon the Burner put the torch to his father's ships and destroyed the naval strength of the North, we were lacking in strength at sea. And Manderlys could become the naval powerhouse in the west with these great opportunities. They also could use it to form a trade fleet in peace times.

Only one more Stark. Maybe I could find the other one from Barstarks. But there is only one Barstark and he is just ten years old. I can't sacrifice him just like that. Then what am I going to do?...

Suddenly, an idea came to my mind as I turned to Styr with a sly smile on my face, "You said you would need thousands of normal human sacrifices for one runestone, right?"

Styr nodded his head with confusion as I continued, "How many thousands are we talking about here?"

"Two or three thousand men for every runestone," he said.

"Does that mean, if I bring three thousand Ironborn and wildling, you can make the ritual?" I asked.

"Aye, it is possible," he said with a realization dawning upon his face.

No one liked Ironborn and wildlings and their death wouldn't be mourned. However, I can't use their blood in every runestone as it would be noticed by others and sacrifice to the gods is forbidden and frowned upon so I had to do it discreetly as much as possible. Besides, Aunt Branda is already dying and I was going to have Robb marry Lord Manderly's granddaughter.

Back to wildlings, I know exactly where we were going to find them. However, first I need a fleet on the western shores. Benjen's wedding to Dacey Mormont was going to be very bountiful for the North.

Just as I was thinking about Benjen, I remembered that he was going to negotiate with Night's Watch about the New Gift. That means, while returning from there, he could take a detour and visit Flints of the Mountain.

"Benjen, you will visit Flints while returning from the Night's Watch. I don't know how you are going to make her accept but I want you to bring her here. You can tell her whatever we spoke here but no one other than her will know about it." I spoke with a serious tone. Why the fuck didn't my ancestors fuck like rabbits. Look at Freys, if there had been Starks like them then I wouldn't be dealing with such a problem. "Now, go prepare for your journey."

Benjen nodded his head and raised himself from his seat. He looked at Styr's unseeing eyes and left the room silently.

"I need something from you," I said to Styr.

Styr put the pebble back to his pocket and asked, "What is it?"

I put the words together in my mind and thought about how to hide my system from him while telling him what I wanted. "I had dreams since my childhood, dreams of things that didn't happen and already happened. I saw a man burning septs at a place where salt was sown to the soil and a seed was buried in the ruins of the sept. I saw a man who was sitting on a throne and cackling while a man was burnt and another strangled before him."

The words slowly became images in Styr's mind as he saw the scenes I was telling. I was trying to indicate to him that I was a greenseer and wanted him to teach me to use it to its full extent. The man was a knowledge trove and I intended to fully use him.

"After meeting you, I realized that those scenes were a green dream. And you told me that you are the last Green Man so I want you to teach me how to use it properly." I said with a hopeful but steady tone.

Styr hummed thoughtfully and rose from his seat, "Let's go to the Godswood. I will try but your ability is coming from your blood and isn't like ours so don't hold your hopes too high."

I nodded my head and led him to Godswood. Although it has been only one day since coming here, Styr was already learning every corner of Winterfell. We passed from the iron gate of the Godswood and entered inside.

The Godswood's multitude of trees was creating a dense canopy over old, packed earth and humus and moss. From chestnut to ironwood, there were many different trees inside. At the centre of the grove was an ancient weirwood with a face carved into it, a heart tree standing over a pool of black water. There was a bedroll before the heart tree. Styr probably slept there at night. It was a wonder he didn't freeze in his sleep as nights in the North was enough to freeze the water.

Styr approached the heart tree and put the pebble he brought between its roots. I saw many pebbles like it in there but they were hidden by the moss so it was normal for others to not see it.

I waited for a few minutes while he removed a small amount of sap from the heart tree. He told me to strip and smear the sap all of my body. I did what he said and sat on the ground.

I felt a sensation like the one I felt in the Isle of Faces. Something was pulling my soul out of my body. Suddenly, the strings that were binding my soul to my body severed and I found myself in another place. Hundreds of images were flashing before my eyes. I looked around and saw Styr standing right beside me.

However, his eyes were not hollow anymore. They looked like they regained their colour. In an instant, he grabbed one of the flashing images and the image sucked us in.

I found myself in a place that was similar to the Godswood of Winterfell. A man was stranded on a rock with ropes made from human hair. Her ribs were cut open from his spine and his lungs were torn out. Some men came and freed him from the ropes but this time, they tied him to a cross. They carried him throughout the streets of a small town.

I followed them with Styr until we arrived before a crowd of men and women. A man who had a crown of black blades was standing before the crowd and speaking in some foreign tongue.

There were at least a hundred men on their knees with tied hands. I saw the man with the crown turning around to face the kneeling men. He waved his hand and blood became a river and flowed into the town.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder as my vision blackened and we returned to the hall of images. This time Styr told to choose one. I tried to focus on the images but they were too fast. Styr told me to use my mind so I imagined them stopping at their place.

Finally, I saw the images and all of them were showing something else. I grabbed one and we were sucked in again. This time, I was in a great hall. People were drinking and chattering while a man and a woman sat at the head of the table. My eyes widened as I recognized them.

One of them was Robert while the other one was Cersei Lannister. Then I realized I was at the Red Keep and Robert's wedding. One moment I saw him drinking a big cask of wine and then he was being stripped by the women and pushed into a room.

This time, I imagined myself in the hall of images and we were both pulled back into it. I grabbed another image and we were sucked into it again. I saw a group of men travelling the vast tundra. Suddenly, a band of wildling raiders appeared and attacked the group.

One of the men in the group was wearing an armour engraved with a direwolf. However, he was the first one to be killed. His head was cut and attached to the belt of a stout man.

Only then did I come to my senses and realized that it was Benjen who was killed. Did I just see the future? Is he going to be attacked on his way to Castle Black? Can I save him? Questions came one after another but I had no answers for any of them.

We returned to the hall of images and Styr told me this was going to be the last sight of today. I looked at all of them carefully. I grabbed the one which seemed similar to the crypts of Winterfell.

I saw a man standing before the first statue of the crypt. He grabbed the head of the statue and suddenly, the statue moved and a secret door was revealed. He opened the door and went in. I tried to follow him but I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It is time to leave," Styr said as I tried to enter inside.

Styr grabbed my shoulder tightly and I felt like I was returning to my body. When I opened my eyes, the sun was already setting and the cold was seeping into my bones. I shivered and quickly wore my clothes.

"Today was the first and the last time you used heart tree sap. Next time, you will try without sap as this was just for you to experience the green sight." A voice came from my side and when I turned my head, I saw Styr whose eyes were hollow as always, looking at me. Sometimes I was wondering whether he was really a blind man.

I nodded my head and quickly ran to the crypts beneath Winterfell.