CH 25 The Blondie Part 2

P.O.V Change

'She was so STUPID! She should have listened to Dalla and never should have believed that bastard,' Val mused in regret as she concealed herself among the leaves of a towering tree outside the small village.

Val could still remember the day that her sister had found that turn cloak injured while on a hunting trip. Val had been about to kill him just like any normal Freefolk would but her sister stopped her and then not only did she not immediately kill him but she also brought him back to their tribe and tended to his injuries.

While Val had always known that her sister was a very kind woman, which was a rarity in the true North, she still didn't think that she was this stupid. Sadly she was the elder sister so ultimately Val had to listen to her no matter how much she hated it, but that crow not only did not leave after he got healed he became one of them and even had the nerve to steal Dalla for himself not that she resisted very much.

Now, Val normally wouldn't have much of a problem with her sister's partner but she just had to choose a Crow. And thing only went downhill after that as everyone began avoiding Val and Dalla, for nothing stirred greater disdain among the Wildlings than a crow. But Dalla was adamant about it and didn't budge even once even when Val threatened to leave her (not that she would).

And in her bitterness, she made a foolish mistake and agreed to join Greybeard when he proclaimed that he would raid Bear Island and disprove Mance's claim that it had become a big port now and was too dangerous to raid for supplies. Val had merely sought to spite her sister and Mance, who had been in a long-standing feud with Greybeard ever since his arrival and subsequent defeat in a duel.

Mance had become famous among the Wildlings when he proved to be able to regularly climb the wall to go over the other side and even live among these southerners for a few days without them ever recognising him for the Freefolk he had become. And somehow one thing leads to another and he had eventually become the leader of their tribe which was one of the big ones on that side of the wall.

And all the people who came on this raid were the ones who weren't happy with having a former crow as their leader but Mance had proved his skills in combat and his cunning more than enough times that they couldn't do anything about it.

A day ago Val separated from the main party because Greybeard had decided that too many people on the rafts and boats would make them too slow for the ambush and their eventual retreat with their haul, so he had broken the raid into two parties and Val had immediately jumped on the chance to go with the smaller party as she knew that the bastard Greybeard had started looking at her peculiarly was not good news.

Maybe he thought that since he couldn't get the older sister he would go for the younger one but Val was only 14 this year and had no intention of being claimed by that wretch nearing half a century. But she knew that she couldn't beat him so the only thing she could do was pray that he somehow died during the raid, and she swore that if she reached her home safely then she would always listen to her sister.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a piercing scream. Looking down, Val beheld a grotesque scene unfolding before her eyes. Greybeard's brother, leading this raid, yanked a woman by her hair, while her husband lay at his feet, bearing a severe axe wound across his chest, cursing vehemently at the laughing wildling.

The villagers had somehow known that they would be attacked so they had hidden behind trees and houses and peppered them with arrows. They had managed to kill five of them like that but their arrows eventually ran out and while they were good they were just not as fierce and good as the wildlings in combat, and it seemed that there was only a single man present in the whole village at this time so they eventually lost.

Just as the wildling prepared to drag the woman away, and hope seemed lost for the villagers, a swift whoosh resonated through the air. All eyes turned skyward, witnessing Greybeard's brother gagging, an arrow lodged in his throat. He collapsed, freeing the woman from his clutches.

The Wildling who were just about to revel in their successful raid looked toward the place where the arrow came from and witnessed a man leaping through the trees on a massive horse. With his curly hair flowing, he skillfully shot a second arrow that found its mark in the eye of a Spearwife peeking out of a house, bringing about an abrupt silence

Everyone seemed to startle awake at that moment as they recognised the threat the man presented. Simultaneously, cries of anger erupted, and they charged straight at the rider. The man, undeterred, continued his relentless assault, galloping toward the Wildlings while effortlessly shooting arrows.

Val was mesmerized by the unparalleled archery she was witnessing. Never in her life had she seen such skill, especially on horseback. He surpassed even Ygritte, the most exceptional archer she knew among the Wildlings. Before they could even reach him, he had already claimed the lives of half their group. Astonishingly, he didn't stop there. Swiftly placing his bow on his back, he drew a spear from his side and ran straight through them while killing men and women left and right.

Before she knew it Val noticed that only three people were left of the wildling party that came along with her. The realization snapped her out of her daze, understanding that she couldn't cross back over the Wall alone. She swiftly raised her bow, knocked an arrow and aimed it at the rider and shot it.

While she didn't possess Ygritte's exceptional skill, Val was a competent archer and could hit her target eight out of ten times and the arrow was going straight for the Kneeler's neck so she thought he would die for sure but unbelievingly the man, as if he had eyes at the back of his head, tilted his head slightly and the arrow just barely grazed his hair leaving him unhurt.

The man went back to fighting, unfazed, as if he hadn't just almost died due to an arrow. He had lost the spear by now in one of the three men's chests and was now fighting on foot with his sword with the last two and he was fending off their attacks so easily as if he knew their every move before they even struck.

'It had to be a fluke,' Val thought furiously and shook her head to clear it before taking a deep breath and raising her bow to try once more. She let loose an arrow, carefully choosing the moment when the man had just dispatched the second-to-last foe, leaving him off-balance. She was certain that this time he would fall this time. However, an even more unbelievable thing happened—the man somehow caught the arrow just inches from his throat, leaving Val dumbfounded.

Before Val could even process the insane feat she had just witnessed, she saw the curly-haired pretty boy look straight at her with annoyance before he went back to fighting the last man who seemed to be on his last leg.

Before Val could even raise her bow for the third time, an ice-blue shadow flicked past her hand and she yelped as the bow flew from her hand leaving a bruise on her hand. She looked around wildly for the assailant while barely hanging on to the tree branch she was sitting on. It took a few moments to even think of looking up and she yelped again when she found a huge ass blue eagle looking straight at her with its massive eyes.

Val swallowed hard, trembling as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a piece of jerky, offering it to the eagle. She stammered, "T-Take this. P-Please don't eat me!"

Val could swear to the old gods that the bird actually rolled her eyes before she flew away with a soft scoff or rather caw of disinterest. She almost cried tears of relief that she didn't get her eyes pecked and just didn't care anymore.

Down below Jon had already finished up with the last wildling with nary a scratch on him and approached the villagers who had been assisting him from the side however they could. Jon knew that most of the men here were out fishing at the moment, the reason the only people he could see were all women except for the single man who was being helped by his wife to stop the bleeding in his chest.

"You're late, boy," the man grunted at Jon as he saw him approach.

"Sorry, old man," Jon replied with a familiar grin. "These Wildlings were cunning enough to attack the port simultaneously, and I was caught up there."

Groaning as his wife finished tending to his wounds, the man asked, "Are they all dead, then?"

"Yeah, almost," Jon responded, glancing toward a tree at the edge of the village. He wore a serious expression as he asked the man, "Did we lose anyone?"

"No. We knew that help had to be on their way so we mostly kept them away with arrows and you know how these bloody curs are, they never kill women if they could help it (to take them away), so the only one hurt is me... guess I should have been born a woman... HAHA,"

Jon laughed along with his crass joke which got him a strike from his wife making him yelp in pain and curse, "Dammit Woman, I am injured here,"

Leaving the bickering couple alone, Jon went to the deal with the last of the annoyance who was hiding in a tree.

...

'Please forget about me!' 'Please forget about me!' 'Please forget about me!'

Val fervently prayed as she observed the kneeler conversing with the villagers instead of heading directly toward her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Old Gods were determined to disappoint her, as it wasn't long before the man stood up and purposefully made his way toward her.

She knew that escaping was useless with the horse grazing nearby so with shaky hands Val withdrew the dagger her sister had gifted her, which seemed especially small in her hands at the moment.

Before she could prepare herself, the man stood at the base of the tree, looking up at her. and after a few moments said calmly, "Why don't you come down? I promise I won't hurt you,"

Val scoffed, as if she would believe such as stupid lie and spat at him while cursing, "Fuck you, KNEELER!"

The pretty boy just sighed and after looking at the tree for a moment as if debating if it was worth it to climb he surprisingly turned his back to her with a shake of his head which was the stupidest anyone could do. Val thought for a moment that it was a trap but it she knew that it would be her final chance so she didn't hesitate and just jumped straight down with the dagger pointing straight at his neck.

"AHHHH—"

But sadly for her, it seemed that the man had been waiting for that as he calmly took a step to the right dodging her perfectly and Val slammed straight into the ground with a loud. *THUMP*

Val immediately tried to get up despite the fierce pain but the man didn't leave her a chance and pressed a knee to her back while locking her arms behind her, rendering her motionless. And after she eventually tired herself out from resisting him, he asked her in a boyish voice, "What's your name Blondie?"

"FUCK YOU!! YOU BASTARD!!"

"And how did you know that," Val could hear a smile in his voice as if there was an inside joke that only he knew about.