Running Through The Woods - Sandor Clegane

Chapter 27

"Gilly!" I hugged her when I saw her walking past towards her room Sam had organized for her and Little Sam. "Sorry I did not see you yesterday, I had a tough few days." Little Sam wiggled in her arms and he reached out to me.

"I think he missed you." Gilly smiled and I took him from her. Beric and Sandor stood in the yard, speaking with one another when they heard a baby giggle. "You got so big from the last time I saw you." I tossed him in the air, laughing and catching him.

Sandor watched the scene in front of him, something about it made him happy and sad at the same time. He did not realize that Beric was staring at him as his attention was fully on the two. "I am never going to have that with her. I am never going to have her." He whispered.

"Maybe you can, Clegane. Not the baby part but maybe you and her can patch things up?" Beric could see the pain in the Hound's face and he did not like it.

"How was Oldtown?" I asked Gilly.

"It was fine, read and learned a lot." I could see there was something more she wanted to say but didn't know-how. Little Sam squealed when I tickled him and urged Gilly to continue. "Sam and I had sex." I smiled, hugged, and congratulated her. "That is wonderful, Gilly! I am happy for you two. You guys are great together."

"There is a big, scary man and one with an eye patch staring at us." She whispered, a wind blew past and I pushed Sammy closer to me while I turned to look at the men she was referring to.

Sandor and my eyes caught each other, he was already staring and walked away grumbling something under his breath. Beric smiled nodding his head before following Clegane. "Eye patch is Beric Dondarrion, believes in the Lord of Light." I rolled my eyes and repositioned Sammy on my hip. "The scary one is Sandor Clegane."

"Wait! The same Sandor Clegane you told me about? The one that died and you were madly in love with?" Gilly was shocked and looked in the direction he went. She asked a million questions and I tried answering them all.

The sound of a horn blowing brought Jon out into the courtyard and I saw the arrival of Edd and the rest of the Night's Watch, dismounting from their horses. "I have to go. I will see you and Sammy later." I handed her, her baby and made my way to greet them all. As I moved to greet them, I was unexpectedly tackled by Tormund. "Little Hound!" He smiled, spinning me around.

"Tormund put me down! I am going to be sick!" I laughed. Jon greeted his old friend, but the ginger had unfortunately bad news. "Last Hearth has fallen, the Umbers are now part of the army of the dead, as is anyone who has not reached Winterfell by now, and the undead will reach Winterfell before daybreak"

As night fell, the defenders gathered to make their plans for the battle. Jon noted that even with weapons of dragonglass and Valyrian steel, and the defenses we have laid, the army of the dead outnumbers the living too heavily for us to have a chance at winning a conventional battle.

"What can we do?" Jaime asked. Jon suggested we make the Night King our primary target; given that he raised every monster in the army of the dead. "If we can kill him, his army should die with him," Jon said.

"The Night King will know this weakness and he will never risk himself on the battlefield," Jaime spoke, but Bran interjected that the Night King will come for him, as he tried to kill the Three-Eyed Raven many times before.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"The Night King's ultimate desire is to erase all memory of the world of men, something which I, the Three-Eyed Raven, now possess," Bran explained. Jon stated they would place Bran in the crypts for his safety, but Bran refused, declaring he would wait in the godswood to lure the Night King out.