WiSh - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Scrawny Little Scout

"Sir Harris, a man of the Night's Watch doesn't deserve your good sword..." one of the men said, watching Will's receding figure.

Harris hung the small short sword from the hunting team's kennel worker that Will had given him on his waist: "Don't say such disheartening things in front of me. He's a man of the Night's Watch and an extraordinary ranger." He turned his horse and urged it into a gallop.

Will urged his horse to walk slowly, closing his eyes. Since learning the green sight, entering the forest gave him a sense of familiarity. This feeling was subtle, with a faint sense of peaceful belonging.

Over the past few days, under the guidance of the heart tree, he no longer needed to completely still his body and mind. He only needed to concentrate to control Harris's warhorse.

However, the horse was full of spirit, and for the first two days, Will's consciousness entering the horse's body met with sharp resistance. After three days, Will finally subdued the horse. With his concentration, he could enter the horse's body, see the world through its eyes, feel the power of galloping with its hooves, sense the cold with its skin, and at his will, make the horse stop or go.

For the first time, drinking cool stream water with the horse's mouth, eating the shallow withered grass, and feeling the icy juice slide down the throat was a novel experience.

Everything felt so new, cold, and powerful. The horse had Will's thoughts, and Will had the horse's body. The only regret was the limitation of the road and environment, not allowing for a full gallop to test the limits of speed.

"Will!" The Forest spirit, began to speak in Will's ear again. Will even felt that this mysterious figure, who had become one with the weirwood tree, must be too lonely, and Will had become his only companion for communication and exchange in thousands of years.

Walking alone in the wolf woods, Will felt more at ease and comfortable, as if a fish had returned to water or an eagle had soared into the sky.

"It took you more than three days to learn to control a horse. You've disappointed me a bit," the old spirit's voice showed no emotion of disappointment. He was just stating a fact slowly and clearly.

Will said: "Old spirit, I had to proceed step by step. I couldn't let the horse get scared and injure its hooves. That horse has such strong spirit that after I left its body, it seemed to know I was controlling it, fearing and resenting me. If I had been too forceful, it would have run away in fright, possibly injuring Harris, which is not the outcome I wanted."

"Harris is a rare knight with excellent character. After your duel, he wanted to befriend you. He was happy that you accepted his sword."

"I had intended to refuse," Will thought, but didn't say it out loud.

"I know things you don't."

"What things?"

"About Harris's future, he will become Robb's captain of the guard and his personal bodyguard. Unfortunately, he will die at the Red Wedding."

"The Red Wedding? What's that?" Anything that happened in the south was invisible to him, and he couldn't deduce fragments of future prophecies from current events.

The spirit, who had merged with the heart tree, was not a god. Strictly speaking, he should also be considered a warg. The humanoid species that could fuse their lives with weirwood trees led Will to believe he was a member of the mysterious Children of the Forest.

The southern territories were controlled by the Seven Gods of the south, and he could not extend his vision beyond the Neck to spy on the past, present, or future events in the south. However, he could see some complete events, not just fragments, of the past, present, and future in the North. Those prophetic fragments came to him automatically. To be precise, he had become numb.

Until Will appeared. Perhaps Will had brought him a glimmer of hope.

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you," Will said. "It's too complicated, and I sense hostility emanating from the wolfwoods. I don't know who it is.

"Use your green sight to look. There's an old eagle in the tree ahead. Do you want to try the feeling of flying, looking down from the sky at this wolf wood?"

"An eagle can't see hunters lurking under the leaves from the sky. I don't want to be shot by a rusty arrow or have my neck slashed by a dull blade."

"Then possess the trees, one by one. This is also practice for your green sight."

The forest was ancient. Looking up, not a single patch of sky could be seen, only dense leaves and the ice and snow on them blocking the view. The sound of hooves on the stone path of the King's Road carried far in the woods.

Before learning the green sight, Will would typically travel for half a day, then rest, and only continue his journey at night, walking the entire night and resting again at dawn. Normal people traveled during the day for safety, but Will preferred the night because it was safer. However, now with the green sight, Will decided to travel whenever he felt like it and rest whenever he wanted, regardless of whether it was day or night.

Will closed his eyes, letting his horse walk forward. These trained northern horses could walk on their own, maintaining a steady pace without their rider's commands.

Will felt his soul fly out of his body, a transparent version of himself, like a transparent, insubstantial ghost. He chose a massive sentinel tree and flew over, merging with the tree's body. The tree's coldness and roughness made Will extremely uncomfortable, which was why he could only possess trees for short periods.

Will found it hard to imagine the old spirit's experience of being one with the heart tree through wind, sun, rain, and frost. The perception of a tree's life, its hardness, coldness, and the wet, slimy feeling like a thousand snakes crawling on him was nauseating. Will believed that few normal people's souls could endure possessing a tree for long periods.

Perhaps the warm trees of the warm south were different.

He saw a ragged figure not far from the sentinel tree, amidst the black thorns. A pair of bright, black eyes contrasted with a sharp, thin face, sparse, grayish-yellow hair, and sunken eye sockets. The small arms and legs indicated severe malnutrition.

She was emaciated!

And she was a little girl.

Barefoot and bare-legged, she held a dull knife used to hack through black thorns and some dead branches.

There was no one else around.

The little girl's eyes were wild, watching Will on horseback as if he were a dead man.

This little girl had killed before; she must be a scout for a small team.

Teams in the forest that had scouts like her were actually very cowardly. If several riders or more than five mercenaries passed by, they would only watch them go by. But if you were alone, they would be very bold and cruel.

*****

A/N: I encourage you to take a peek at my other literary endeavors. I'm confident that you'll find them captivating. They're waiting to whisk you away on new adventures.

Also, a gentle reminder: "Don't forget to vote with your Power Stones. It will be a tremendous help in getting my works noticed by a wider audience. Your votes are like beacons in the night, guiding others to the stories we've built together."