The Lost Dragon | Game of Thrones

Chapter Thirty-Six

At the sound of the horn, Violet, Jon, and the leaders of the free folk all ran outside from the broken down hut. Violet winced as the snow and wind had increased and was now whipping her violently in the face. Men, women, and children were all running chaotically around her, and she reached out and gripped Jon's arm to keep track of him.

Violet looked to see Jon looking behind them with widened eyes. And at the sight of five creatures she were guessing were white walkers sitting atop dead horses sitting above them, her eyes widened too. The snow made it difficult to get the best look at them, but seeing them in person and not from Old Nan's stories or something told to her by Tormund, it frightened her to a point that had never been touched upon in her life. A chill ran down her spine, and it was most certainly not from the cold.

"Tormund, get the children and the old onto the boats, NOW!" Violet screamed at the large bearded man. Tormund nodded quickly before running off with the other leaders. The woman she learned was named Karsi immediately grabbed two small girls and started running towards the shore. 

A large gust of wind blew through them bringing with it piles of snow. Violet yanked Jon along with her through the crowds of people to get a better grasp of the situation. Thousands of people were running from the other sides of the gates, against the men who were yelling to close  them. Boats were sailing off with way too many people inside than they could carry, and Violet was worried she was meeting an enemy she didn't know how to deal with. 

The gates had been sealed off but Violet could still hear the men and women crying to be let through on the other side. Until she couldn't. 

The silence was deafening, and everyone around them seemed to still. Jon reached down and firmly gripped Violet's hand, Violet welcomed the warmth. She peered upward to see who looked like their leader holding his sword made of ice upwards. And suddenly it wasn't so silent anymore.

Screeching and clawing took the place of what was once human crying. She could hear grunting, and sounds that were more than unfamiliar to her. Jon's grip on her intensified, even though Violet knew Jon had witnessed whatever was on the other side of the gate before. She had no choice but to release his hand, and grab both her swords. Swords she wasn't even sure would work on whatever was about to attack.

"Archers!" Someone shouted, as many of them started to climb their way atop the gates. They had glowing blue eyes and gnashing teeth and the skin had seemed to melt of their bones despite the ice that had just overtaken them. Violet's hand trembled beneath her sword for the first time in her life, Jon noticed this and clasped a hand over her wrist. 

"I know. But theres no time to be scared. I need you to fight, I need you to help me get these people out of here!" Jon told her over to screeching of the wights. Violet took a deep breath before nodding her head. 

"Go help Tormund get these people out of here!" Jon said, pointing to Tormund who was practically shoving people into the tiny boats. Violet shook her head. 

"I will not leave your side, not now." She told him. Jon looked about to argue, until he saw the determination take over her fear and he nodded in agreement. He ripped Longclaw off his hip and stood back to back with the girl he has known all his life. Wights attacked them from both sides, but neither of them let them touch the other. 

Violet could hear Jon grunting behind her, she could hear his sword slicing through bone, and that sound kept her going. Her adrenaline overpowered her, and she was once again on the battlefield doing the one thing she was good at. Except this time here enemy was already dead. 

They were quick, ghastly quick. It seemed their only objective was to tear the skin from bone. Was to tear the flesh from the living. To kill in the most horrific way possible. 

"We have to get out of here! Fight to the shore!" Jon shouted to her, she nodded to him before remembering the weapon they had brought with them. 

"The dragonglass!" She shouted, pointing back in the direction of the hut that the giant was now bursting out of, fire had overtaken the building. 

"Fuck the dragonglass! The bloody building is in flames!" Shouted Tormund who had appeared beside them.

"Do you not remember me walking out of a fire alive?" Violet chuckled, chopping through two more wights. "That dragonglass is worth more than gold right now!" 

"Then I'll go get it!"Jon offered. Violet, Tormund, and even Karsi who had suddenly appeared all shook their heads. 

"My daughters got on that ship, you think they'll let them through the gates if you're not there?" She asked. 

"I gave an order, my men will follow that order!" Argued Jon.

"As long as you're there to give that order!" Said Tormund. Violet rolled her eyes as her friends argued, and ran past them and into the fire. 

She could hear her name being called from the outside, she ignored it and quickly ran through the flames to grab the sack full of dragonglass. Her fingers had barely grazed the sack when one of the white walkers walked in through the other side of the hut, and knocked her backwards. She grunted before sliding backwards and grabbing her sword that had fallen. 

The white walker looked so different than what she had fought before. He looked almost human. Almost. They all had the same glowing blue eyes, but he had matching skin and carvings throughout his entire muscled body. He moved to cut through her but Violet held up Beast to bock his hit, and his sword cut straight through her sword and into her shoulder. 

She cried out in pain as he removed it slowly, and before he could move to cut through her again, he disappeared. Jon and his longsword had cut through him to the surprise of them both. She breathed out in relief before Jon pulled her to her feet, she winced in pain but swallowed it down and unsheathed her Valyrian sword. 

"We have to go." Jon breathed out, cupping her head gently before maneuvering her out of the hut. Violet chopped through several wights alongside Jon before they joined Tormund and Ed inside one of the boats who had come back for them. Tormund had noticed her injury and ripped a strip of fabric off his breeches to wrap tightly around her shoulder that was bleeding profusely. It was the same shoulder she had injured when she fought at Castle Black. 

As they sailed away to the ships that had once belonged to Stannis but now belonged to Violet, They couldn't look away from the massacre they were leaving behind at Hardhome. Not even a quarter of the free folk had made it out alive. And as their leader walked out onto the dock, raised his hands slowly,  the people who once belonged to the living now belonged to the army of the dead. 

Violet could see the pain behind Tormund's eyes as he looked at the scene behind them, but she knew nothing could alleviate that pain. She leaned into Jon's side, grateful that he was alive and breathing beside her.

She might have lost Beast, a sword that had been with her through every fight in her entire life. But she didn't lose Jon, a man that had been there even longer. And she might have just lost a sword, but Tormund and his people lost so much more, a fact that Violet knew when she brought it to her sister, would change their course forever.