Chapter 21

'Fist of the First Men. I'm finally here.'

It was nothing like it was shown in the HBO series. The Fist was located next to the Milkwater, surrounded by the haunted forest. The hill offered commanding views, with the slopes at a dangerous angle to the north and west, and only slightly less dangerous to east. There was a ringwall of chest-high grey stone that crowned the top of the steep, stony hill. At the foot of the hill there was a brook.

The sight was mystical and it oozed a certain type of charm that intrigued me.

I could hear howls of wolves echoing from far away in the Haunted Forest. A sparce echo of a growl of a bear would come from the east. The screams of the hawks flying above were loud and clear, like they were right next to me.

'Could it be...?'

I cautiously walked to the hill and looked at the summit. 'It's not too far.'

With my hands digging into the frozen bedrock of the hill, I began my climb to the top of the hill to get a better idea and confirm my suspicions. It didn't take me long to reach the summit and when I stood atop the hill, my suspicions were confirmed to be accurate.

'The pattern and the position of the stone and the location of this lone hill, this is for surveillance as well. The sounds of the forest are amplified.'

I looked up at the hawks and came to a conclusion that the wolves and the bear were many leagues away from my location. Then, I focused on the sounds again.

'They're getting louder. They are coming towards me. But, how?'

I knew that wolves had a very keen sense of smell, but, they couldn't smell a prey that is more than a mile away. Two miles if one were to stretch their abilities. There was absolutely no way that the pack of wolves could smell me or my horse.

Meanwhile, bears, especially polar bears had an even greater sense of smell than wolves. They could smell prey that was around 20 miles away from them. But, they usually avoided humans and mostly stuck to seals and other small land mammals. Perhaps fishes if it was less cold and the rivers weren't frozen.

'Their behavior is unnatural.'

And, if something was unnatural, it meant that a human was involved.

'Wildling wargs? No, they usually bond with hawks as that helps them in scouting. Plus, it's highly unlikely for so many wargs to be in one place having control over an entire pack of wolves and a bear.'

It was something else...

'That motherfucking Targaryen bastard!'

I ground my teeth in anger. I hadn't even done anything for him to act with such hostility against me! As a greenseer, he could only see the past and the present. Even he couldn't see the future to a certain clarity. Small, scattered visions, perhaps he could see them. But, not the entire future! There was no time stone!!

I took a deep breath and calmed down.

'He doesn't know me, but, he's acting with hostility anyway. It means he wants to keep me away... Or, keep something hidden.'

The aminals were approaching faster.

'I need to keep my horse safe.'

I jumped down from the cliff which startled the horse a little. I walked to him and gently stroked his mane. "Shhh.. It's alright. I've never harmed you before. So, trust me on this one. I'm doing this to keep you safe."

The horse kicked the snow and nudged me with his nose. Taking that as a sign of trust, I tied him to my back and using all of my might, I began climbing the steep hill. No wolves or bears could climb it so my horse was going to be safe when they arrive.

'I better get a good fucking explanation from that bastard, or, it won't be the Night King who kills him.'

The horse protested from the discomfort which made the climb all the more harder. Just when I was about to reach the summit, the hawks in the sky began acting strangely.

I barely managed to get on top of the hill and untie the horse from my back when the hawks began to attack us. 'You're making me angry, you fucking old fart!'

When the hawks got closer, I threw my throwing knives at them and hit them. The knives did what they meant to do and the hawks fell on the snow painting it red with their blood.

'If they wolves make noise, it'll alert any other animals and wildlings in the vicinity. I have to make it quick.'

The sound of the wolves running through the forest got louder and louder.

'I should have trained in throwing multiple knives at once. Tsk! To think I was stupid enough to ignore it for it being too geeky.'

With 'Heartsbane' in one hand and #49 in the other, I jump off the hill and landed on the land, the snow doing enough to cushion my fall. I could see the wolves coming through the edge of the treeline. From the south, the bear was getting closer as well.

'Let's see if they can dodge a knife thrown by the strongest man on the planet.'

Typical to their hunting behavior, they surrounded me. The horse on the summit of the hill neighed in agitation after he saw to wolves.

It was easy to know who the alpha was amongst the pack of eight. It was a grey wolf and was the biggest one in the pack.

I stood tall, trying to look big and menacing. If it was a one on one situation, that could have worked, but, they had come in a pack and I was alone. I struck the blunt sides of my weapons together and shouted, making as much noise as possible.

[Apex aura activated]

The wolves were communicating amongst one another. When the alpha made his move, the rest followed after him.

[Fast reflexes]

[Expose weakness]

I roared and slashed at the first wolf that pounced at me. The sword cut cleanly through its open jaws and split its face open.

The next one attacked my legs while another jumped from behind to bite at my neck. I jumped and twisted in the air while cutting at the wolf below. Again, the sword passed cleanly through it and severed its spine.

The wolves growled and howled after seeing their fallen friends. They resumed attacking with even greater fierceness. It was the alpha that attacked to my left. He was attempting to go for the hand that had the smaller weapon.

I maneuvered my arm and body away and stabbed his snout from above. Then, I pulled the dagger out before splitting the wolf it into two pieces.

I roared again after I was done slaying the leader of the pack. The remaining wolves stepped away and made themselves small. I could hear their whines as they backed away from me.

I roared one more time which made them run away with their tails tucked under their legs. By the time the fight was over, the bear had arrived from the south. It was charging towards me with all of its might. I dropped my sword and dagger and grabbed hold of the spear.

When it was within range...

[Quick attack]

The spear struck true right into the heart of the bear. It was killed instantly. It's carcass fell on the snow and began to bleed out.

I stood still and tried to listen for more animals coming towards me. Ther were none.

'It's over. Hope you feel satisfied after getting all these animals killed, you filth!'

[Apex aura deactivated]

I looked up at the horse who was silently watching me. "Alright, buddy, let's get you down and then we can camp here."

It took some time to get the horse down. After that I burned all the carcasses and looked around.

'There's something hidden nearby that he decided to send so many predators after me. But, where? These rocks and the hills are the only permanent land marks here.'

I looked around, trying to piece the mystery together, but, to no avail.

'He's been beyond the wall for a number of years. If it is something, it's more likely to me something metallic. Wood, like a wooden chest will have to be burried deep to prevent damage. It's something that is highly resistant to damage.'

I picked my sword and my dagger up. While I was cleaning the blood off them, I immediately had an epiphany.

'More likely metallic and highly resistant to damage.. Could it be?!'

Immediately, I looked at the Valyrian steel knife in my hand with the eyes of a miner. I could 'see' the 'colour' produced by the steel. It was white and indigo mixed with a little magenta. Then, I looked at the rocks and the hill.

They were mostly made of silica and some iron. A small amount of copper scattered around. When I looked at the hill, I saw it. Straight, white, indigo and magenta.. Right in the outer parts of the hill...

'Dark Sister.'