Chapter 702: Lyanna

Benjen Stark was only a few steps away from the Night King when he swiftly pulled out the hidden dragonglass dagger from his sleeve, aiming straight for the Night King's heart.

"Die!"

Determined to sacrifice himself, Benjen believed that if he could plunge this dagger into the Night King's heart and kill this monstrous leader, even being shattered to pieces would be worth it.

However, at this critical moment, a slender, pale hand suddenly reached out, grabbing Benjen's wrist and positioning itself between him and the Night King.

On the other side, the Night King, who was in front of the corpse of an ice dragon and seemingly casting some magic, sensed something. He slightly turned his head to look behind.

But all he saw was a woman with skin as pale as the moon and long gray hair, standing in front of a wight, preventing it from approaching him.

The Night King's eyes, burning with icy blue flames, narrowed slightly.

Upon closer observation, one could see that the icy blue flames in his eyes were identical to those on his palm and the ice dragon's body.

However, the Night King didn't seem to notice anything unusual. He trusted this female White Walker immensely. Without uttering a word, he turned back to the ice dragon's corpse, continuing his magic.

On the other hand, Benjen, gathering all his courage, had drawn the dragonglass dagger from his sleeve and aimed for the Night King's back. His eyes were solely on the Night King, the root cause of the chaos in the human world. He was so focused on his assassination attempt that he lost awareness of his surroundings.

But to his surprise, just as he was about to strike, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The hand's fingers were slender and pale, exuding a bone-chilling coldness. Benjen shivered.

It wasn't the cold that startled him; he couldn't feel cold anymore. It was the sudden realization of his situation.

He saw the Night King turning his head, his gaze sweeping over.

Only then did Benjen realize how close he had unknowingly gotten to the Night King.

However, his assassination attempt had failed. He was detected by the White Walkers and caught red-handed. He feared what awaited him next would be a gruesome death, perhaps even torment to his soul.

Despair rose in Benjen's heart, but when he looked up, he saw a face he knew all too well.

It was a beautiful face, pale as moonlight. She had the Stark family's signature long face, gray hair, dark lips, and light blue eyes burning with flames. She was intently looking at her younger brother.

"Lyanna."

The Black Knight, Benjen, couldn't help but whisper. He never expected the person who caught him to be his sister, Lyanna.

But before Benjen could say anything more, he was silenced by Lyanna's cold gaze.

Holding Benjen's wrist with one hand, she came close and discreetly slid the dragonglass dagger back into his sleeve.

Meanwhile, not only Lyanna and the Night King noticed the unusual behavior of this wight, but other White Walkers and the ancient Kings of Winter also turned their heads to look at Lyanna and Benjen.

But like the Night King, they only saw Lyanna stopping a 'lost' wight, not detecting any other anomalies. They all turned their attention away.

It wasn't rare for some wights to stray from the commands of the White Walkers. It wasn't a big deal; they just needed to be redirected.

Lyanna Stark, with her cold gaze burning with flames, stared intently at the wight in front of her, not uttering a single word.

She hoped Benjen would understand her intentions, and Benjen subtly nodded in agreement. The siblings, having grown up together, shared an unspoken bond.

Only then did the beautiful woman, with skin as pale as the moonlight and light blue eyes, release Benjen's hand.

"Cough—"

The surrounding White Walkers made a series of noises, and Benjen, pretending to be one of them, coughed a few times before staggering away.

Some time passed, and the Night King, with the icy blue flames in his palm, seemed to have completed his spell. The massive ice dragon's eyes suddenly ignited with flames.

"Roar—"

The ice dragon suddenly rose from the ground, letting out a deafening roar that echoed across the endless icy plains. Its translucent wings spread wide, casting a vast shadow.

The ice dragon, seemingly resurrected from the dead and even appearing to have healed, roared and then, with a powerful push from its sturdy hind legs, took to the sky.

The ice dragon soared into the snowy skies, and Benjen, who had just feigned ignorance, looked up at the disappearing dragon. If he were still human, the adrenaline from the recent events would have drenched his back in cold sweat.

But now, Benjen was no longer human. Yet, the fear from deep within his soul still surfaced.

He knew that it was Lyanna who had saved him. Otherwise, even if he had lunged at the Night King, he probably wouldn't have succeeded.

Because the Night King was clearly not unguarded. The moment Benjen drew the dragonglass dagger, the Night King had sensed some movement.

But Benjen's actions were timely stopped by Lyanna Stark, who stood in front of him, preventing the Night King from noticing any clues and keeping him distracted.

Because most of the Night King's attention was still on reviving the ice dragon, Benjen narrowly escaped.

Although he didn't succeed in assassinating the Night King and even almost got caught, Benjen didn't walk away empty-handed. He saw his sister Lyanna, whom he had been longing to see. This was one of the main reasons Benjen had ventured beyond the Wall in place of Eddard.

And from the brief eye contact and subtle changes in grip strength between the siblings, Benjen felt a glimmer of hope. This confirmed Eddard's and his initial suspicions: Lyanna had indeed been resurrected as a White Walker, but like him, she seemed to retain some memories from her past life and wasn't entirely controlled.

She had deliberately left many signs and hints, perhaps to tell the Stark brothers that she was still 'alive' and wanted them to find her.