A/N: The final chapter of this arc~
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"Creepy fucking tunnel… heh, hey Snow, is this where we get betrayed? They gonna bury us in here?"
Jon rolls his eyes, knowing that Tormund is mostly just trying to calm his own nerves. The wildling man is normally so boisterous and fearless, but the long winding tunnel that connects the north of the Wall to Castle Black is clearly messing with his head a bit.
Looking over, Jon just huffs.
"No, Tormund. I highly doubt that they're going to collapse the main tunnel on us. For one, I'm here."
Tormund scoffs.
"Yeah but yer half-Free Folk already, Snow. Hang around us much longer and it won't matter what color your cloak is."
Bristling, Jon grits his teeth and doesn't rise to the bait.
"… For two, both the King and Lady Daenerys flew OVER the Wall to go to Castle Black ahead of us. They're probably the main reason that the Night's Watch opened the gate in the first place and are letting us through. So long as they're on the other side to keep an eye on things, nothing is going to happen to us."
A few minutes later, they exit the tunnel and enter the courtyard of Castle Black. Already, Jon can see a train of Free Folk being guided out through the courtyard's open gate and down the road… which makes sense because Castle Black is not at all equipped to handle this many people.
Instead, they'll have to move out into the Gift and be directed to somewhere nearby where they can settle down and set up camp again. Hopefully it will be the last time they'll have to do so because of the Others and the wights nipping at their heels, however.
With the wildlings now on the other side of the Wall, things were finally looking up.
Jon breaks out of the Free Folk convoy and makes his way over to where he sees the King standing with Mance and his uncle off to the side. Benjen Stark doesn't look entirely happy with Mance's presence, but then that's not too surprising given that they'd served together before the man's desertion.
Still, Jon is surprised not to see Lord Commander Mormont anywhere…
"Ah! There you are Snow! Come over here will you."
The King notices him approaching and beckons him closer, so Jon double times it over to them. With a broad smile, Axel grabs Jon by the shoulder.
"I want this one in charge of any necessary communications between the Night's Watch and my new subjects, Lord Commander. Just so that there are no… misunderstandings."
Jon blinks, caught off guard both by Axel assigning him such an important job… and also the fact that he's calling Benjen 'Lord Commander' for some reason. Clearing his throat, he speaks up.
"Apologies Your Grace, but my uncle is the First Ranger, not the Lord Commander."
There's a pause at that as all three men turn to Jon. A bit of grief spreads over Benjen's features.
"I'm afraid that's incorrect, Jon. I am the Lord Commander now… Jeor Mormont passed away in his sleep over a week ago. The cold took him."
… Oh. Jon blinks, hit rather hard by the news. He and Jeor Mormont hadn't necessarily been any closer than the old bear had been to other members of the Night's Watch… but even still, the Lord Commander had been like a steady rock despite his age. To hear that he was gone, not from a battle but just found dead in his sleep… damn.
After a beat of silence, Benjen clears his throat.
"… I've had Longclaw sent back to House Mormont on Bear Island."
His uncle was now Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. It doesn't really change anything, but its still a lot. Of course, they don't exactly have time for Jon to process it. Or at least, Axel doesn't think they do.
"Right then. With that out of the way, I trust assigning Jon Snow to that role is fine, Lord Commander?"
Benjen slowly nods as he looks at Jon, who in turn straightens his back and tries not to slouch.
"… Yes. I think you're right that he's the best one for the role Your Grace. So that there are no misunderstandings, as you said."
Axel smiles wickedly and suddenly Jon wonders how much he's trying to avoid misunderstandings and how much he's trying to push Jon into breaking his vows and bedding Ygritte.
"Wonderful! Then that's settled. Ah, if only everything we have to do to prepare was so simple. What I wouldn't give for an easy source of dragonglass to drop into my lap next."
The King's words hang in the air for all of a moment before a tentative, hesitant, yet familiar voice calls out.
"U-Uh… did you say dragonglass, Y-Your Grace?"
Jon turns with the others to see Samwell Tarly standing nearby looking nervous. Before Jon can even decide if he should step in, Axel has already moved towards the anxious man and is towering over him.
"That I did. Do you know something?"
Sam swallows, glancing to both Jon and Benjen in a bit of a panic. It's Benjen who steps forward, clearing his throat.
"This is one of our stewards, Your Grace. Samwell Tarly. Samwell… if you have something to say, then say it."
Benjen's stern but gentle tone works wonders on Sam, prompting him to slowly nod.
"R-Right… I just… I've been reading old records for the Night's Watch for a long time now. And I recall there being mention of the Night's Watch once receiving dragonglass from… from certain locations in Westeros."
Axel narrows his eyes.
"Which locations?"
"W-Well Your Grace… Dragonstone, mostly. After all, dragonglass… is just another name for what the Maesters call obsidian, a type of volcanic glass formed in… well, volcanoes, Your Grace."
There's a pause for a moment as Axel chews on Sam's words and Jon watches his friend sweat buckets despite the icy temperatures all around them. Until finally, Axel's lips curl up into a wide, wicked grin.
"Perfect."
Without saying another word to Sam, the King turns on his heel and calls out.
"Daenerys!"
Jon had, of course, noticed the Lady Daenerys' massive dragon dominating a portion of Castle Black's courtyard earlier. And Daenerys was with it too. Someone else who was nearby, interestingly enough, was Val, the wildling sister of Mance Rayder's pregnant woman. If looks could kill, Val would be dead a dozen times over from the glares Daenerys was shooting her. But the Free Folk woman seemed to be doing a good job of ignoring the Dragon Mother.
Regardless, Axel flies over the massive train of Free Folk moving through the courtyard and lands on the other side. Jon watches them converse for a moment before turning back to the others. He realizes then that he's home. His trip to the south has come to an end. He's accomplished all his goals by getting Ygritte and her people to safety.
It's far from over of course. The Others are coming and according to Axel they only have months left until the Wall itself might be torn down if nothing is done about their magic. Still… one step at a time. And at least Jon no longer has to deal with Axel's insanity anymore.
… No, he just has to somehow keep his brothers in the Night's Watch and the Free Folk who are settling in the Gift from killing one another. Yay.
-x-X-x-
After speaking with Daenerys and making a promise to Val that he would return to the Wall soon, Axel lifts off of the ground again, taking one final look at just what he has wrought. Men of the Night's Watch stand to the sides and observe as the greatest amount of wildlings they've ever seen in one place make their way through the Wall and out of Castle Black into the gift.
It's always possible that all of this will explode in his face. He wants to believe that the wildlings can be trusted, but he's also prepared for them to ruin it. Still, Axel is confident that Mance at least wants to make this work. He expects that the former King Beyond the Wall and his closest followers will take care of their own problems, more often than not.
They had better, because Axel has enough on his plate as is. Daenerys has orders to begin the flight down to Dragonstone, where she will unchain her other two dragons and begin transporting as much dragonglass as possible up to the Wall as she can. She might wind up doing that for much of the next couple months, in fact.
And how will those on Dragonstone know that Daenerys is not only to be trusted but also obeyed? How will they know to start mining as much dragonglass as they possibly can even before she arrives?
Well, that's where Axel comes in. No more passengers. No more hesitation. No more holding back. As both he and Daenerys rise into the air, her on the back of Drogon and him flying unaided, Axel looks over and meets his tamed Dragon Queen's eyes.
She looks back at him and blushes lightly before giving him a submissive nod and then directing Drogon to begin flying south. Axel watches her go for a moment… and then he finally moves.
In a split second, he's past her. Another second, he's breaking the very air itself as he flies. This is Axel Baratheon's true speed and as he leaves the Wall behind, he comes upon Winterfell in minutes rather than hours.
Coming down in Winterfell's courtyard at least a little slowly, Axel clears his throat.
"Lord Stark! Your King has need of you!"
It takes a painfully long time for the Warden of the North to present himself, but admittedly that's only by Axel's standards. Soon enough, Ned appears out of one of the castle's exits, looking astonished by Axel's presence. Of course, the Lord of House Stark knows that Axel can fly, so he at least has an inkling of how Axel has suddenly shown up like this.
"… My King… what brings you to Winterfell all alone? And do you have word of my youngest daughter?"
Axel winces at the mention of Arya and waves a hand dismissively. And then he decides to just bullshit up an excuse on the spot.
"I know she snuck off without your permission… but she's safe and sound and keeping your eldest daughter company. My Queen is getting closer and closer to giving birth… having her sister by her side will help, or so Sansa says."
That, of course, works immediately on a softie like Ned. His face immediately turns understanding and he slowly nods.
"That… of course. Very well then… but what brings you here?"
And so Axel tells him. He tells Lord Stark all about the threat of the Others right there in the middle of Winterfell. Plenty of people are listening in, as evidenced by when Axel points out the hole punched through Valyrian Steel Armor by the Night King's ice spear.
"Almost got me… went clean through to the other side. But I got better. Call your banners Lord Stark. Summon your levies Warden of the North. Winter has come and it will take all of Westeros to see it put back in its place."
Eyes wide as he stares at the hole in Axel's chestplate, Lord Eddard Stark slowly nods.
"It… it will be as you say, Your Grace."
Axel smiles and begins to rise into the air.
"Good. I know I can count on you, Lord Stark. It's everyone else that we'll have to see about."
Ned opens his mouth, perhaps to question that, but Axel is already gone, whatever the other man's words might have been winding up lost on the wind. After all, the Lord of Winterfell was only Axel's first stop today. Land flies past as Axel moves faster than he's ever moved before.
He feels a little bad about having Stannis write up all those letters before he left for the Wall a few days back. Though they'll probably still make use of them as backup, he supposes. Still, if there's one thing that Axel knows, it's that they don't have time for letters. They don't have time for the back and forth, the disbelief, the suspicion and the doubt.
That's why Axel himself is going to travel to every major castle in Westeros and make certain that the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms are getting ready for a fight. By the end of today, all of Westeros will be preparing for war.
And if they aren't? They'll have to answer to him.
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A/N: Next chapter, the final arc of this fic starts up and then we'll have some epilogue stuff. We're in the endgame now guys. But it's been a fun ride and I hope I can semi-stick the landing at least!
Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape the story with a Daily Free Write like this one!