Protector of the Realm

Chapter 1 - He Lives

His long black hair became frosty with the snow on the ground. The otherwise soft curls stiffened, and his eyes lost focus, and stilled, as if staring straight up at the sky, unmoving, as blood poured out of his wounds, turning the white snow beneath him, red. The last image he saw was the boy. The one who delivered the final thrust. Though shocked, and disappointed, Jon was not angry. For the first time, probably belatedly, he wondered, if and how there was a way that he could have appeased his brothers who now labeled him a traitor. If he knew a way, he would have done so before leading that last unpopular mission to strengthen their numbers for the upcoming battle -- the magnitude of which, none of his sworn brothers seemed to understand. Jon was not a traitor. He was the protector of the realm whose duties outweighed any individuals' personal interests, even his own interest in staying alive.

As Jon's body stiffened and his eyes became still, the band of criminals he was meant to lead, threw down their daggers and their knives. "There!" He heard one of them shout. "He's dead! The traitor is dead!" The rest of them repeated the call, which soon became a chant, "He's dead! The traitor is dead!" they all chanted as they stomped off in the snow, their cold steel daggers left behind, still laying on Jon's lifeless body. The further away the chant sounded, the darker the world became, and soon, Jon Snow lost all consciousness.

He never saw the red raven swarming above. She was easily mistaken for one of the crows circling overhead, as the scavengers usually did while they waited for death to take their target, before starting their feeding frenzy. As the red raven watched, she thought she would have been satisfied to let him die. She thought she would revel in watching the crows pick him apart, piece by piece, from her perfect arial view of justice taking its course. "Wouldn't that be fitt'n," she originally thought, "to watch a crow, eat a crow." But as the life seemed to be escaping out of Jon Snow, the red raven was overcome with a sense of urgency, which moved her quicker than she could think. She flew like lightening towards the white dire wolf, who seemed to already know his master was in trouble. The wolf was struggling against the restraints that bound him, howling and barking and growling violently, though the attack on Jon Snow had occurred a great distance out of his sight.

The red raven swooped down on a man standing nearby, who held a key. Startled, he fell backward and the key fell from his hand. The raven lifted it with her beak and flew directly at the lock that connected the chains restraining the wolf. The key fit. The dire wolf still raged. But she had to turn the key.

The red raven took flight, high above the dire wolf's head, then swooped down like a torpedo, angling her flight to the right, as she knocked the key with her body. The key turned and she fell to the ground from the impact.

The raging dire wolf broke free of his chains and darted like a bullet in the direction of Jon Snow. The red raven lay limp on the ground, as she thought, "Run Ghost, run!"

As Ghost approached his master, he became calm. He nudged Jon Snow with his snout, but Jon Snow did not move. Ghost nudged him again. Jon did not move. Ghost began to whine. He licked his owners face, then nudged his face with his snout. Still, Jon did not move. Ghost barked three times, then bit the heavy black leather, fur and crow's feather coat that still warmed Jon's body, and Ghost ran, dragging Jon Snow with him, for miles and miles until he saw a small burning fire, and chickens, then people. He left Jon's limp body on the ground and began to bark at the lady feeding the chickens.

"Oh No! I can't believe it!" She screamed. "A dire wolf! It's a dire wolf!" She ran inside, screaming at her husband to get his gun. "A dire wolf!" She continued screaming. Her husband came running outside, armed and ready to fire. But Ghost was nowhere to be seen. In the direction his wife had pointed, he saw Jon Snow's body, lying lifeless on the ground.

"Come out here, woman! That's no wolf! It's man! And he's dying! Come tend to him! Quick! Get out here, now!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for reading. Please don't forget to vote. I promise to update weekly, if not sooner.