The War for the Dawn I

Jon 

The undead soldier screeched but was silenced when Longclaw cut off its head, Jon huffed and went after two others and slaying both in quick succession.

Across the small skirmish, Wildling and Night's Watch fought the dead company of soldiers, no White Walkers were seen and he was worried this was just a decoy, a test to gauge their strength and he would keep the Night King oblivious.

He narrowed his eyes and killed two more dead before the last fell, he sheathed his sword and looked around to see that he lost four today, yesterday, he lost five.

They'll need to ride back to Eastwatch, or he regroup with Edd or Tormunds company.

The last few days have made him cautious as to where the main balk of the dead is, so far he's only encountered twenty to sixty at a time and most encounters were victories against the Night King.

"We need to get to where Edd is positioned, from there, we work together and tackle bigger groups of the dead." He said to his people who nodded and everyone readied their horses, they stormed far and hard for where Edd is.

He heard the howling a half hour later, they were near the edge of Haunted Forest. He turned sharply and shouted for his soldiers to gather, "Hurry, get to the others!" He kicked his horse to ride.

The storm is surrounding them, he knows where the dead are coming from and he has a guess that there are many of them, possibly a hundred.

The horses stomped and rode hard, arrows shot at them and killed eight of his men, he cursed and was relieved to find the banner of the Night's Watch, Edd. His relief turned into fear when he found there was nothing but blood, forgotten swords, and horse corpses all around.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" He was afraid, he didn't want to leave in the case that Edd was somewhere. He turned and saw the dead coming, and with them was two White Walkers.

He could do a few things, he can keep riding to find Tormund or he can stop and kill these two White Walkers to lessen the Army of the Dead. After a moment he unsheathed his sword and prepared to fight them.

Then he heard a horn blow, East and out from an opening came Tormund, 80 of his men and 21 Night's Watch from Edd's group. They came to assist and some fighting broke out between them and the dead.

He slashed and cut down many of the dead, his sword plunged into a former Night's Watchmen, his corpse wasn't so rotted, nearly fresh so he might have been apart of Edd's men. Tormund found him in the chaos and helped him get to one of the White Walkers, it was someone with a white beard and a head of white hair.

He came at the bastard and swung his blade which clashed against the ice sword, Tormund got on the Walkers left and brought his weapon on the fucker, the Walkers screamed and smacked Tormund into the ground, he took advantage and plunged Longclaw into the ice demons chest.

Tormund growled and he turned and saw two dead stabbed the man, he took it like some titan and jammed an obsidian pick in ones head then took that pick and put in the undead chest. He ran over and got the giant to safety, a Watchman guarded them but was pulled aside by a new creature.

He looked and saw a monstrous looking thing, a spider of ice and evil, an actual Ice Spider from Nan's legends.

"First time seeing an Ice Spider, boy?" Tormund chuckled and the spider would have come at them until it collapsed along with the rest of the undead, one of the Wildlings got the second Walker in the back of the head and it was a victory for them once more.

"We better stay together," He suggested to Tormund, then his frown returned to his lips, "What happened to Edd, is he... " Tormund nodded and grunted.

"They overwhelmed his lot, he killed a Walker before being smothered as his second said, they came back and chased the rest to us... We killed them and burned their bodies." He was glad of that, Edd was one of his greatest friends and he will miss him and the others who died.

"We don't have enough to keep fighting, we ride back to Eastwatch." He told the men around him and helped Tormund up, the man was too proud to be helped on to his horse and he got on his and sheathed Longclaw, "Ghost, come on!" He called to his wolf and he and the rest of the ranging party began their journey back to Eastwatch.

Two days it took but when he saw the Wall, he also saw four dragons flying above. They're here, thank the gods. The thought ran through him as he pushed on and a Watchman sounded the horn that the Rangers are returning.

The gates opened and they came into the courtyard, he didn't see any Unsullied, no Dothraki or any other Southern banner. "The Dragon-Lady is the first to arrive?" He heard Tormund question and he reluctantly nodded to the question.

"Jon!" He turned and saw Davos approach from the stairs, "The Dragon Queen and King Rodrik are the first to come, the army is rather large, they'll be here in a few days." He understood and dismounted from his horse, handing the reins to a Spear-Wife and walking towards the great hall of the castle.

He needs to discuss some things with Daenerys and Rodrik.

Daenerys

"You're not cold?"

She smirked and turned to her companion over the brief flight over here.

"Unlike the rest of you, Targaryen's are quite warm even under the worst circumstances." He chuckled at her response, she joined in and they shared another laugh.

The flight here took at least a day and a half, the dragons needed to rest and feed and there was some good game. Her and Rodrik had stopped near some old tower, it looked centuries old and the village was empty and looked haunted if she was saying anything.

"What is this place?" She asked him and he crossed his arms, the army behind him for a number of days.

"This is Queenscrown. During the reign of King Jaehaerys the First, his Queen and sister, Alysanne came here on their progress throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Something to the people on your side when this war is over." She smiled when he suggested that, it is something she can do with her half of the Seven Kingdoms when this is over but, she doesn't believe that they will enjoy her passing through.

"There are problems with that," He turned to her, brows furrowed in confusion. "I saw the way some of them looked at you and Sansa, at Winterfell, I don't command as much respect and love as you two." It was a hard truth, even she had to accept it.

The Stormlands had to be broken to be at her side. The Dornish only joined her out of vengeance, not loyalty. Sansa was the one to bring her the Tyrells, not her, it meant she has a certain bond with them. In King's Landing, she saw the people were afraid, her father had left an imprint on them and her dragons did less to quiet it.

Rodrik stared at her and she crossed her arms together, "You know, Aegon wasn't respected or loved by the people when he came to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. He took it with Fire and Blood, he took the easy road which ended with fear not lasting as much as benevolence." He said to her and she remained silent, listening to him. "You are not Aegon, I know that, now, you could have laid waste to King's Landing and destroyed the Lannister army but you didn't." Yes, she could have, but she didn't want to be that person no matter how easy it would make things.

"You trusted me to end the war with one death instead of thousands. You don't burn whole Houses for defying you, you don't melt castles to break men to your side. You are better than them, better than Aegon and most importantly, better than your father." She sucked in some breath as he told her this, he was so genuine and she smiled from his kind words for her.

She felt something touch her head, Rodrik chuckled and said it is going to rain soon.

"That should suffice as some warmth." He agreed and they used a rowboat to go over to the Queenscrown.

The keep was old, she asked where all the villagers were and he said that Jon evacuated everyone who isn't fighting to the Neck and White Harbor. She figured it was a good idea, no use in having children and women be at the mercy of the undead.

He reached and helped her out of the boat, they made their way up the causeway and to the stout oak door. She took a bad step and nearly fell but Rodrik was quick and caught her, his hands on her back and waist. He cleared his throat and apologized, she said nothing and too embarrassed to utter a word.

The first through fourth floors were full of cells, storerooms, and murder holes, curves, and she saw an old tapestry with two dragons and two riders. She glanced at it for a long moment before Rodrik lit a torch, he nodded for her to follow behind him and she did.

The fifth floor was a round chamber, it looked like it had been used a couple of times, the bedding was laid on and there was some old firewood in the hearth.

"You can take the bed, your grace," What a gentleman, she smiled and removed her gloves while he relit the hearth and then the room was filled with warmth. "There, some fire. You should remove your clothes." She turned to him sharply like he was insane.

"Pardon me?" She asked him incredulously, he chuckled and shook his head before explaining.

"I only meant is to get out of our wet clothes, I am sure there's a dress somewhere you could wear for now." He told her and began removing his clothes until he was wearing just his shirt and pants, he took off his boots because he was stepping in the lake to help her stay less wet though, it didn't do too much to stop it from falling on her.

She couldn't find anything, but she can't keep these wet clothes on. Hypothermia can kill as easily as a blade.

"Don't look, please." She was acting like some shy maid, usually, she didn't very much care about who sees her body.

The Dothraki embrace their bodies, sometimes having sex in front of everyone around. But that was a long time ago, and her time doing as the Dothraki has passed on.

Rodrik nodded and left the room for a moment, closing the door. She sighed and began removing her clothes one by one, until she was in the last shade of outfit, a red shoulderless silk gown. She cleared her throat and said that he could come back in, Rodrik walked in and he smiled.

They warmed up in silence for a few hours, she was sitting by the fire while Rodrik was looking through the little old library that was here.

"Tell me about the Vale, I told you about Essos and the Bay of Dragons." She wanted to share another story together, he turned and put down a small book.

"What would you like to know?" He asked her and she smiled upon thinking about it, then she thought to ask for the bigger things about the Vale.

"What is the valley like?" She's heard it was a beautiful place but never had the pleasure, there was a war to be fought after all.

Rodrik's face softened as he remained silent, he didn't speak for several moments but when he did, she was moved. "You've seen the North, the mountains and mud, imagine more mountains surrounding a beautiful and almost holy place, when the sun would set just right, it looks like something so precious and sacred." He said with such compassion that she was left admiring him.

She got up from the bed and approached him, he let her get closer and she smiled at him. "I want to see it, someday." She said and he chuckled.

"We have a war to fight, we can't." He told her and she smirked.

"It's not ideal telling a Queen 'no', Rodrik Arryn." He laughed lightly and cracked a smile, she saw his teeth. "The war isn't tonight, it isn't right at this moment." The tension was high, she could feel it and seeing his body language told her that he feels the same.

It began as a light kiss, she stepped on her toes and felt his lips against hers. She parted for a moment and his blue pools stared into her amethyst ones. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer for another kiss, "It's going to be cold tonight, your grace." He whispered as their foreheads met, she ran a hand on his chest.

"Then you better keep me warm." He lifted her up and her heart was beating so fast, they fell into the bed and she kissed him heatedly, reaching to unlace his breeches as he felt her thighs which sent a sensual shiver up her spine.

She hasn't felt like this in some time, not since her last night with Drogo before they went to that Lazareen village. She moaned as he embraced her body, she felt his as his shirt was discarded and they lost themselves in the heat that enveloped them.

Before he was inside her, he looked at her, brushed a hand across her cheek and touching her silver hair. He reached down to take her lips and she felt whole, if not for eternity but a night, an hour.

The next morning they dressed in there now warm clothes and finished flying here, he brushed his right hand on her cheek once more and she was going to kiss him before the door to the hall opened and she was finally introduced to the one named Jon Snow.

Rodrik 

Perfect timing as always, he smirked and pulled away so he may address his friends son but his mind snuck back to that night with the Dragon Queen.

He never expected what happened at Queenscrown to happen, perhaps it was the ghosts of Alysanne and Jaehaerys manifesting themselves in them to love one another.

A scoff wanted to escape his body, Robert is surely turning in his grave and his father is no doubt ashamed of him. Bedding a dragon would have gotten me killed, if Robert had lived. He thought in remembrance of that night when he and Daenerys made love.

It wasn't like he had done with Arianne and Tyene, they were more lust, a hint of desire but he wanted Daenerys after she kissed him. He wanted her to be his and he be hers, perhaps this is what it felt like between Rhaegar and Lyanna at the Tourney of Harrenhal, the Crown Prince lusting and chasing the foreign beauty.

Daenerys is beautiful, the night they made love was still fresh in his mind, he can remember the touch of her naked body melding with his own, how she felt when he was inside and in the warmth of the furs and blankets, the heat from the hearth made it as if they weren't in the North, they weren't marching to war and they weren't enemies months ago before bringing down House Lannister.

He distrusted her when they met at Dragonstone, an uneasy alliance when they agreed to attack their common foe. He respected her for staying her hand and trusting him to end the War of the Lion and Dragon without bloodshed, that respect turned into a peculiar friendship on the Kingsroad North. The feeling grew at Winterfell, after that came the night at Queenscrown where the feeling burned and imploded into action.

He understands the feeling, his mother felt the same with his father as Orion said, it was the feeling Cersei felt for him despite him not being able to reciprocate it.

It was stronger than his feelings for Arianne, it was love, he actually fell in love with Daenerys Targaryen. The Mother of Dragons.

"King Rodrik, Queen Daenerys, I am glad you have come." Jon shook him from his thoughts and he cleared his throat.

"Daenerys, this man is the one who united us, he told us of the dead and the threat encroaching the borders from the North. This is Jon Snow, the 998th Commander of the Night's Watch, Natural-Born son of Lord Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North and the man who has been fighting the real war all this time." He introduced Dany to Jon and the two stared at one another, Jon glanced away and it was a little suspicious but that doesn't matter right now.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, nat last, you look like you've been fighting the dead already," Daenerys mentioned with some concern and he looked at Jon, there was dirt, blood on his leathers.

"I thought we were waiting to start our offensive until the armies arrived, Jon, why did you go ahead with this?" He asked the younger man who cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back, Jon frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"We couldn't afford to wait any longer, the Night King is coming, his armies are vast and I had to do something." Dany asked how many men did he lose, "Many, a hundred and a half, I only took 300 across the Wall. We slew two White Walkers on the ranging." Jon informed them and he sighed in relief slightly.

"So, did we make a dent?" Jon scoffed and shook his head, he grunted and thought that this was easy, killing White Walkers and dismantling the dead that they had risen.

"The Night King had created his Walkers with the children of a Wildling named Craster, he would marry his daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters. He gave all the sons he's sired to the White Walkers, they, I assume are made new generals for his army. Leaders for the dead." He felt disgusted that any man would do that to his own children, then giving his sons to some devils created by the Children of the Forest.

Dany didn't seem so bothered, he figures that she was brainwashed by her older brother than marriage via incest was alright, it isn't.

She saw him give her a bothered look, confused but pushed it aside while Jon told them about the Army of the Dead.

"Tell me, truly, can the Wall be defended, can the dead be pushed back?" He asked Jon, the natural born son of Ned gave him a conflicted look.

"Bran said that the Night King will be hitting Eastwatch, I have brought the balk of my forces we assigned to the Wall here." Jon gestured for them to follow, he led them to a table which had an outline of the Wall and heading to the Haunted Forest. "We bring everyone who can use a bow to the top of the Wall, there shouldn't be no need to combat them head on." It was a sound strategy, "We could use the dragons to light the forest aflame, burning some of the dead to shorten their numbers." Fire and Blood indeed, he sighed and crossed his arms.

"What if one of the dragons perish? They are our biggest weapons." He questioned and Dany looked hurt, him talking about the dragons like they weren't anything but giant fire-breathing weapons.

It's one thing he doesn't quite agree with her on, besides the thing about him surrendering his crown to her.

"We don't know the enemies powers, all we know is he can raise the dead. He has giants, corpses, and Ice Spiders fighting for him. No doubt he's killed every living thing North of the Wall and brought it into his force." Ice Spiders? Can this get any more ridiculous, can the dead be any more mysterious and dangerous, it made him shake his head.

Jon told them that he's done all he can to prepare the Wall, he told Jon that he has taken some precautionary measures such as making Winterfell, Moat Cailin and at the last minute the Last Hearth. Every person not fighting has been evacuated beyond the Neck and at White Harbor.

When the planning has been done to a satisfactory level, Jon started walking out but stopped, he was curious as to why.

"What's the matter, Jon, is there something else you need to discuss?" He asked the man who sort of became a close ally in these last few months. Jon didn't turn to them right away, he seemed to be conflicted on what to do.

Jon finally turned to them and he cleared his throat, "Yes, there is." He and Dany waited on him but when he did speak, they were left in disbelief, "Bran told me of a secret kept from everyone by my father... It's about my father, my true father."

Daenerys gave Jon a cold look and all of a sudden, things became a lot tenser than it already was with the dead upon them.