After living a tragedy that traumatized his mind, our protagonist after dying appears in the world of Game of Thrones as a baby, however, suffers the misfortune of almost being turned into a white walker. Join Blake as he endures the curse of the walkers while trying to save his family.
"There it is."
"It looks much bigger than I thought, it's almost the same as the tribe."
"Not only that, it was built on flattened ground, and more people can live there than in the tribe."
Oswin looked at the walls of the great fortress city that was the second settlement of the black axe tribe.
They were fortunate that they were not hit by storms or hail during the journey to the second settlement, only light snowfall, so it took only 9 days to arrive.
"Wymond, give the signal."
"!!!!!"
At Blake's command, Wymond sounded his horn, and soon after they saw the city gates open.
"Come on, I want to see what you did with the Ice-river clans."
Oswin ordered following the march to the second settlement.
"They are members of the black axe tribe, remember that and treat them accordingly."
Blake replied he had made sure to turn these people into members of the tribe.
"Magnar!"
"Welcome Magnar!"
"Blake, Magnar!"
A dozen people greeted them at the door.
Wren and Zafar were the first to greet Oswin, while Dean and Benton greeted Blake.
Wren wore the standard armor of the tribe's warriors, while Dean hobbled slightly with his prosthetic leg, wearing tight gray leather robes. Benton, on the other hand, wore a leather apron over his robes, and Blake guessed he had come straight from the workshop when he heard the horn blow.
"Father, when I heard about the expedition I thought you'd bring Wystan with you!"
Wren turned to greet Wymond, flashing a smile.
Wren shook his head.
"He's not a tribal warrior yet."
Wren looked slightly disappointed to hear this, as his second youngest brother was the most cheerful of his family, but he finally continued.
"We have prepared a feast to welcome the Magnar, when I gave notice that he was coming along with Blake, many brothers of the tribe were excited."
"Come on then, I want to see the second settlement as well."
Wren led the way into the settlement, directing them towards the outpost fortress in the center, followed by Oswin.
"Blake, didn't my father accompany you this time?"
Blake walked behind the group, along with Benton, who counted as several of the new buildings that had been made.
Zafar stood next to him, asking.
"Cam will be in charge of the tribe this time."
"I imagine he wasn't at all pleased with that."
Zafar, who knew his father well, said a snort.
"How happy one can be to have the honor of leading the tribe in the Magnar's absence."
Blake said as he shrugged.
"Speaking of honor, we have a surprise for you and the Magnar."
Benton gave a suspicious smile as he spoke.
"What'll it be? They built a monument?"
Blake thought for a few moments, wondering.
In the first settlement of the tribe, there were no such things as monuments, statues, or such things, as Blake considered them a waste of time and resources.
But in the second settlement, there was the sculpture commemorating those who had fallen while defending the outpost fortress, so it wouldn't be strange if they had made another monument in his absence, though Dean hadn't informed him of anything.
"None of that, I've been busy building the things you've ordered implemented here."
Stepping inside the second settlement, the first thing Blake noticed were the roads, which because of the shape of the city were much easier to build than in the first settlement.
"When you sent the plans and instructions for making the water channels out of bricks and mortar, I got a little excited and started construction right away."
Benton pointed to the aqueducts that ran from the Milkwater River and brought water to the entire settlement.
"But I built them using clay bricks fired with wood..."
Blake's neck turned almost unnaturally to look at Benton.
"I gave you detailed instructions on how to make the bricks for the aqueducts."
"I know, I know, but we didn't have that much coal ready!"
Blake kept looking at Benton as if the latter were an idiot.
Clay could not be fired with simple wood to make outdoor bricks, the temperature it reached would not be enough to give the clay the strength it needed to withstand the cold winter temperatures, as well as the moisture from the water.
"What happened next?"
Blake's eyes narrowed as he looked at Benton, who began to sweat as he explained.
"Part of the structure started to collapse after a couple of months, we soon realized, so we made new wooden gutters."
Blake's heart ached just listening to him, so many wasted materials and labor, they could have made many chimneys had they not made such mistakes.
"Why didn't Dean inform me of this?"
Blake's eyes were riveted on Dean, who was walking a little further along with Oswin and Wren.
"I talked him out of it. After part of the aqueduct collapsed, I finished tearing it down and used the remains to make the rammed earth walls, the only material wasted was cement."
Benton told him several of the difficulties that had not been reported by Dean in his letters, and how they had solved them.
Blake was about to yell at Dean and have him explain himself, but finally calmed down and decided against it. Later, in private, he would ask for explanations.
Blake had taught them how to do the job correctly, but he never taught them what happened when they didn't follow procedures to the letter, perhaps a portion of failure was necessary for their tribal brothers.
The interior of the second settlement was not much different from how he left it.
There were the same cabins and the same buildings, although the number had increased a little, had he had more time, Blake would have liked to stay a few months and teach Benton, along with the other builders, how to make better buildings and houses.
He had sent some builders to teach them how to make chimneys, but little else besides that.
"You will stay out of the banquet, I want you to check all the wagons and goods we brought, as we will be leaving for Thenn as soon as possible."
As they were about to enter the fortress in the center of the second settlement, Blake stopped, ordering Benton to stay outside and leaving instructions to the fortress warriors not to let him pass.
"Blake, come on, I have something to show you!"
Blake would have liked to do the same to Dean, as they had caused a lot of trouble by not following his instructions to the letter, but Dean had already entered the fortress along with the others.
"Hahaha, don't blame Benton too much, he and his builders have done a lot for the tribe in your absence."
Zafar, who was walking alongside Blake and Benton, spoke up in defense of the latter, as he had seen with his own eyes all the work Benton had done over the past few years.
"I'm sure you have, but that's not enough, what would you do, if one of your hunters fell asleep on guard duty in the middle of the woods, and because of this they were attacked by a bear?"
Blake's words were as cold as ice, breaking the mood completely.
"The work of the builders is no different than that of any warrior, one carelessness can kill tens or hundreds of people, Benton is very enthusiastic, but he must understand this or at some point, he will place the entire settlement in danger."
Zafar listened to Blake, remembering who he was talking to, Magnar's son and the person who had set in motion the growth of the black axe tribe, someone who made no mistakes, to finally nod respectfully.
"I will remember your words."
Blake nodded and they both arrived at the banquet area.
Dean had set out tables with food where the 80 warriors of the expedition, plus a few high commanders from the second settlement, sat down to eat.
It was still winter, and the food in the second settlement was barely enough to feed its members, so there would be no banquet for the entire second settlement.
Traveling during the winter was especially hard, both because of the weather and the difficulties involved in walking on snow and slippery ground, so the raiding warriors were hungry.
At the head table, Oswin, Wren, Dean, Zafar, and Blake himself sat down.
Soon after also sat Ham, the old healer, and Alvene, who was in charge of keeping order in the huts and alleviating minor disputes.
"My son told me you were the first to surrender from the Ice-river clans?"
Alvene's face twitched as Oswin, in the middle of the meal, looked her in the eye to ask her a question.
"I was a leader of a large settlement at the time, when I saw the army led by Blake, I knew we would all die if we faced him."
Alvene lowered her face as she answered this Magnar she had just met. News of how Oswin had marched against the Men of the Frozen Shore, crushing them in a confrontation, had spread after the warriors who went to war had returned.
Resentment for the sneak attack he received from the Ice-river clans was still visible in Oswin's eyes and the wine he was drinking made him more impulsive.
"The Ice-river clans have ceased to exist, now there are only black axe tribe brothers, let's toast to the victory of the black axe tribe!"
Wren, who was sitting next to Oswin, stepped in when he sensed the mood was not good, raising his wine glass in a toast.
Oswin looked at him, he knew that Alvene had become Wren's second wife, and understood that he wanted to protect her.
"TO THE VICTORY OF THE BLACK AXE TRIBE!"
"TO THE VICTORY OF THE BLACK AXE TRIBE!"
Oswin decided to drop the matter, accepting that the Ice-river clans had joined the black axe tribe, raising his glass and shouting, then accompanied by all his warriors.
There was no point in delving further into the matter, besides he had met, eaten, and fought with many warriors from the second settlement.
Blake had watched the whole exchange in silence as he ate, a figure caught your attention as he entered the gates of the fortress.
It was an old man familiar to Blake.
After the old man looked at the people inside the fortress, noticing Blake, he walked straight to his table.
"Blake."
"Lopt, you look in good health."
"It's been the easiest winter for me and my people."
"For the black axe tribe, remember who you are in the presence of."
"The best winter for the black axe tribe."
The elder quickly corrected himself.
"Father, this is Lopt."
Blake spoke toward Oswin, who set down his drink and gave the old man a look.
"So you're the one who will take us to the giants?"