Serendipity

Chapter 6

The wildlings had pulled down their camp and moved on South. Mance asked Jon," was it hard for you to kill the Halfhand?"

"Yes," he answered plainly.

"You liked him?"

Jon nodded," I like you but if you're playing us false, it won't be hard for me to kill you," Mance says to him," I've got wildling blood in my veins, these are my people."

"I understand."

"Well how could you understand?"

Jon turns around, stopping Mance," you want to protect your people."

"Do you know what it takes to untite 90 clans, half of whom want to massacre the other half for one insult or another? They speak seven different languages in my army. The Thenns hate the Hornfoots, the Hornfoots hate the ice-river clans, everyone hates the cave people. So you know how I got moon worshipers and cannibals and giants to march together in the same army?"

"No," Jon says.

"I told them we were all going to dieif we dont get south. Because that'sthe truth," the man said before walking past us both.

We walked with him toward Tormund, Ygritte and another man whose eyes were murky white. They all stared up at the sky.

"The fuck is wrong with him?" I ask, making a face at the unknown man.

Mance shushed me," he's a warg. Won't be long now."

I noticed a bird circling above, squawking," he can enter the mind of animals, see through their eyes. He's scouting for us," Mance says.

"What you've never met a warg?" Ygritte asks with a smirk.

"No but I might meet another dead girl if you say something clever again Ygritte," I say, glaring at her.

"Orell," Mance called loudly, making the man snap out of whatever trance he was in with shakey breaths. He looked up at Mance and Tormund," where where you this time?"

"The fist of the first men," he responded after a bit.

"What did you see?" Mance asked.

He looked at Jon and I letting out a small chuckle," dead crows."

As we moved I saw what looked like rocks at first but as we got closer the shapes turned into a thing I'd expect to hear about in the stories of Old Nan. The rocks turned into the heads and bodies of horses. Horses that belonged to the Night's Watch.

"Always the artists," Mance said as he knelt down.

I noticed it made a large spiral pattern, the bodies and heads each placed strategically. Blood was frozen to the snow that had been trampled by hundreds of feet.

Mance stood," it's only horses, no men," Jon said.

"You said there was dead crows," Ygritte said in confusion.

"They are dead," I realize," he made them part of his army. Jon, you saw the wight in the Lord Commander's chambers. He was dead, he came back."

Their eyes all widen a bit as they realize what I'm saying," how many men were here?" Mance asks.

"About three hundred," Jon tells him.

He sighs," we're all the same to them, meat for their army."

"Do you think any of them got away?" Jon asks the man hopefully.

"It's possible, you don't go far betting against a Mormont. But dead or alive, he took a big gamble coming north, and he lost. His best fighting men are dead and whether he's Lord Commander of the Night's Watch or a blue-eyed corpse, he's a long way from home."