Game of Thrones: Holy Flame King

Winterfell, the godswood.

The snow has covered the ancient trees here with white clothes, and the lush and twisted branches are woven into a dense canopy above the head, blocking the already dim sunlight.

In the deep and gloomy forest, each weirwood tree stared with blood-red "eyes", watching vigilantly and sadly at the vicissitudes of the world.

There is a pool of dark and cold water in the middle of the forest. Even though winter has arrived and the weather is extremely cold, and all the rivers in the north have frozen into ice, this pool of water is strangely unfrozen.

Lady Catelyn Tully knelt down by the pool, looking at her reflection in the water in a daze.

Her husband, Lord Eddard Stark, loved to sit in the same position, cleaning his sword in the pool water and praying to the weirwood.

Although she has been married to Winterfell for so many years, coming from the south, she has never believed in these wooden gods.

But at this moment, Lady Catelyn still prayed devoutly to the faces on the weirwood, praying that they could protect her husband and children.

I don't know if the gods heard her prayer, but a direwolf suddenly walked out from the depths of the forest, its blood-red eyes like glowing rubies.

Lady Catelyn tensed up subconsciously, but then she thought that the direwolf was the ancestral emblem of the Stark family, and wondered if this was a revelation from the gods.

Moreover, the more she looked at the direwolf, the more familiar it seemed...

"Madam! Madam! We have found Miss Arya!"

A guard ran over quickly, followed by a bouncing girl, who turned out to be the second young lady of the Stark family.

"Arya!" Lady Catelyn stood up suddenly, hurried forward to meet her, and held her daughter in her arms.

But then, she pushed Arya away again and asked with a straight face:

"Where have you been these days?"

Arya pointed to the direwolf by the pool and said:

"I'm going to find Nymeria!"

"Nymeria?" Lady Catelyn then realized why she always felt that this direwolf looked familiar.

It turned out that it was the direwolf adopted by her youngest daughter. On the way south to King's Landing, it was driven away by Arya due to a conflict with Prince Joffrey.

Unexpectedly, I found it again now.

"Yes." Arya said proudly, "A few nights ago, I was wandering around the city and heard a pack of wolves howling. Although I didn't see Nymeria, I still heard it right away. Its voice! Then I went out of the city to look for it. After several days of work, I finally found it in the wolf forest.

How about it, am I awesome! "

Lady Catelyn suddenly became furious, grabbed her daughter's ears, and scolded:

"Just for a few wolf howls, how dare you leave the city alone? Do you know how dangerous it is in the north now? The Great Wall has fallen, and the White Walkers are coming!"

Arya was shocked:

"The White Walkers are here? Where are they? I didn't see them. By the way, where is my father? And where is Jon? Aren't they guarding the Great Wall?"

Lady Catelyn sighed:

"The Great Wall has fallen. How can we defend it? They have all withdrawn. Your Majesty has decided to re-establish a defense line in the Neck and let all the Northerners move south. Sansa and Rickon have followed Your Majesty to King's Landing. I originally wanted to Let you go too. But you..."

"I want to be with you!" Arya cried. "And father, is he back yet?"

"Not yet." Lady Catelyn said sadly.

But then, she calmed down and said to her daughter:

"I'm waiting for your father in Winterfell. You should go south immediately to find your sister in King's Landing!"

"But……"

"No buts!" Mrs. Caitlin said forcefully, "This is a matter of life and death. This is not the time for you to be naughty! Come with me, and I will arrange for someone to escort you south."

With that said, she took her daughter and walked out of the forest.

Seeing that her mother was really angry, Arya didn't dare to resist. She just turned around and waved to the direwolf by the pool.

Nymeria did not follow, but looked up to the sky and let out a howl:

"Aww—"

Lady Catelyn turned around, intending to reprimand her, but suddenly a shrill horn sounded.

Wuwuwu——

"What's wrong? Mother? Is father back?" Arya asked still confused.

Mrs. Caitlin's expression changed drastically:

"No! The White Walkers are coming! Let's go!"

Arya was dragged out of the forest by her mother, not forgetting to look back to greet the direwolf.

Nymeria followed, howling.

By the time they walked out of the godswood, the horns had stopped, and the entire castle was filled with the sound of orders and the clash of steel.

Fortunately, most of the people have been moved away, leaving only a few loyal soldiers behind, so although the atmosphere is tense, it is not chaotic.

"Madam! The White Walkers are here! Leave quickly!" Sir Roderick hurried over.

"How many came?" Lady Catelyn asked, keeping her cool.

"Too many! I can't even count them! Winterfell can't be defended at all. If we don't leave, it will be too late!"

Lady Catelyn's heart sank.

Fortunately, she is not someone who cannot distinguish between priorities. Although she cares about her husband, she also knows that the only option at this time is to retreat south.

"Okay! Gather everyone and retreat south!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Mother, I also need to go back to the room to pack my luggage." Arya said.

"No more packing!" Lady Caitlin said, "The dry food has been prepared a long time ago. Let's leave now!"

The two came to the stables, and sure enough there was already a team of cavalry ready to go.

Lady Catelyn carried her daughter onto a war horse and ordered:

"Open the south door, rush out, don't get entangled with those ghosts..."

Before he finished speaking, Sir Roderick hurried over and shouted:

"You can't take the south door, madam! There are also White Walkers in the south!"

"What?" Lady Catelyn was shocked, "How could the White Walkers appear from the south?"

"They rushed out of the wolf forest! These guys are smart, maybe someone is commanding them... Anyway, they can't go to the south gate, nor the west gate nor the north gate, so they can only rush eastward!"

"Then go east!" Lady Caitlin made a decisive decision.

With an order, a cavalry squad of several hundred people rushed out of the castle and headed east.

At this time, the wind and snow were in full swing, and the vast white sky and earth were filled with chills.

Lady Catelyn hugged her daughter tightly and was protected by the cavalry in the middle of the team, but before she had gone far, she heard the sound of horses neighing from the front and the frightened shouts of the soldiers.

"There are White Walkers ahead too! We are really surrounded!"

"Charge over! Charge over!" Sir Roderick's loud voice temporarily suppressed the noise in the team.

The cavalry did not retreat but advanced and began to charge.

"Close your eyes if you're afraid." Lady Caitlin said to her daughter in her arms.

"I'm not afraid!" Arya said.

She did not close her eyes, but looked back and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Nymeria following her.

But when she thought that her weapon "Sewing Needle" was still lost in the castle, she felt a little depressed.

"Give me a sword!" Arya said.

But who could care about a girl's request at this time? Her words were blown away by the strong wind and disappeared without a trace.

She heard Sir Roderick commanding loudly, and saw groups of ghouls appearing like ants in the north and south, like two turbulent tides, about to merge on their way forward.

The smell of putridity and death hit us.

"Go forward! Go forward!" Sir Roderick roared at the top of his lungs.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The cavalry ran into an army of wights.

The scene suddenly became extremely chaotic and bloody.

Arya, who was eager to help kill the White Walkers just now, was suddenly frightened.

Sometimes a cavalryman rolled and fell, sometimes a corpse was smashed into pieces, sometimes a knife and ax struck at the dead flesh...

The wind and snow swirled in the air, and steel, war horses, and flying flesh and blood mixed together, creating a bloody and strange picture on the white land.

Arya's mind went blank.

When she woke up, she found that her horse had fallen to the ground, and her mother was holding her face down and smashed it into the snow.

A wight rushed over, but was caught by the direwolf's throat.

"Madam! We can't get out!" Sir Roderick rushed over and handed the horse to the mother and daughter, "You ride my horse and go back to Winterfell!"

Lady Catelyn smiled sadly:

"Aren't you going back to Winterfell to wait for death?"

"Find a place to hide! There is always a chance of survival!" Roderick couldn't help but push Lady Catelyn onto the horse, and then carried Arya over, "Quickly go!"

He slapped the horse's butt hard, and then faced the rushing corpses without looking back.

"No!" Arya kept struggling in her mother's arms, crying until she almost lost her breath.

Lady Catelyn was also in tears, but she still rode forward and galloped forward, passing through countless black hands and the biting wind and snow.

Following the way they came, they returned to Winterfell again.

Behind him were the corpses chasing after him, as well as the soldiers who had been submerged.

Lady Catelyn did not know where to go, but before she knew it, the woods appeared before her.

The war horse crossed a bush and came to the sacred forest.

Is this the guidance of the gods?

thought Lady Catelyn in confusion and despair.

The war horse staggered and tripped over a tree root.

Mother and daughter rolled into the godswood.

The forest floor is covered with thick moss and fallen leaves and is extremely soft, so it won't hurt.

But the footsteps of the corpse behind him were like a shadow, and the smell of fish and death lingered.

Lady Catelyn held her daughter and walked deeper into the godswood.

"Mother, will we die?" Arya asked palely.

Lady Catelyn didn't know how to answer the question, so she hugged her daughter tightly.

The footsteps of the corpse are getting closer and closer, coming from all directions.

There is no escape.

Lady Catelyn came to the waterside in the middle of the godswood and put her daughter down.

"Don't be afraid, Arya," she said. "We will enter the temples of the gods and be protected by them forever."

Arya looked at her mother in confusion, the panic gradually fading from her face.

"Will father also come to accompany us?"

"One day, he will," choked Lady Catelyn.

After saying that, she pulled her daughter and jumped into the pool together before the corpse rushed up.

Plop!

The water in the pool is not cold, on the contrary, it is extremely warm.

Old people always say that Winterfell is built on a natural hot spring, and presumably the water in this pool is also connected to the hot spring.

Lady Catelyn thought that at least drowning in warm water would be better than being torn apart by wights.

This warmth even made her forget the severe cold of winter, as if she had returned to the long-lost southern summer again.

As her consciousness gradually faded, Lady Catelyn noticed that Arya was surrounded by a brilliant red light.

She thought she was hallucinating, but the next second, the whole earth was shaking.

Boom! Boom!

Cracks appeared on the ground, swallowing countless corpses like a maw of an abyss.

Winterfell began to shake and collapse, with rubble rolling down and the sky falling apart.

Boom! Boom!

The water in the godswood suddenly exploded, and Lady Catelyn was swept back to the ground.

"Ahem..." Mrs. Catelyn realized it was not an illusion, "Arya? Arya, where are you?"

Before she could find her daughter, she saw a shocking and terrifying scene.

The entire Winterfell collapsed like toy blocks. The once magnificent and tall buildings were now reduced to smoke and dust. And above the ruins and dust, a huge figure comparable to a castle slowly crawled out from the cracks in the ground!

It raised its head to the sky and let out a huge roar, like thunder, deafening.

Mrs. Caitlin was stunned for a long time before she remembered to find her daughter.

But before she could look for it, she saw the giant suddenly leaning down, and on top of his huge head stood his daughter Arya!

"Arya? How did you...did you...summon the giant?"

"It seems so." Arya scratched her head, seeming a little confused about the situation.

But she still waved to her mother and said eagerly:

"Oh, no matter what, come up quickly! The corpse is coming!"

Lady Catelyn felt a dreamlike and unreal feeling, but she still followed the fingers handed over by the giant and climbed onto its palm.

Then, the giant placed Lady Catelyn on top of him.

Arya hugged her mother and shouted:

"Quick! Big guy! Kill those wights!"

The giant roared muffledly, as if he understood the girl's order. He stretched out his hand and swept the ground, and hundreds of corpses were smashed into pieces.

But the number of corpses is too great, almost endless. Kill a hundred, and a thousand more will rush up.

They followed the giant's toes and calves, as if they were trying to climb up.

The giant had to stamp his feet to throw them off.

Lady Catelyn was frightened by the sight of the giant's head, and she couldn't help but persuade her:

"Arya, stop getting entangled with these corpses, let's leave quickly! Get rid of them!"

"Oh, okay." Arya also saw that the giant was at risk of being overwhelmed by the army of zombies, and ordered, "Let's go, big guy, let's get out of here!"

After a pause, she looked at her mother:

"Where should I go? South?"

Mrs. Caitlin shook her head slowly:

"No! Let's go north! Find your father!"

Arya nodded immediately and said:

"Okay! Let's go find father!"

"Aww!" A wolf howled at the giant's feet.

Arya looked down and was pleasantly surprised:

"Nymeria, you are here too! Follow me quickly!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The giant stepped forward, stood up from the ruins of Winterfell, took two people and a wolf, and headed north.

Soon, the wind and snow covered their figures, leaving only huge footprints on the snow.