Second Chance // Sandor Clegane

20. Last Life

    "You don't understand," Jon told Beric.

    "The Lord brought you back," reasoned the one-eyed man. "He brought me back. No one else, just us. Did he do it to watch us freeze to death?"

    "Careful, Beric. Have a feeling this is your last life," taunted Sandor.

    Beric shook his head. "I've been waiting for the end for a long time. Maybe the Lord brought me here to find it."

    "Every lord I've ever met's been a cunt. Don't see why the Lord of Light should be any different," Sandor responded gruffly.

    I wanted to make a mad dash for the Night King, to end it all here, but I didn't know what I was dealing with. I didn't know the extent of his power, and I wasn't prepared to die finding out.

    And so I sat, Sandor beside me, Tormund and Jon directly across from me. I could feel the hunger creeping up my throat as my eyes blackened.

    Jon was the first to notice. "Are you okay, Katira?"

    I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I- I just need to hunt." The men around me had now all turned to face me, concerned looks etched in their features.

    Normally this might offend me, their obvious questioning of my self control. But I hadn't fed in quite some time, and I was questioning it myself.

    I stood up, walking away from the humans. My attempts to distract my mind were futile as I held my breath, trying to push the hunger deep, deep down.

    "Do you need a whole person's worth or can you get on with a portion that won't kill me?" I looked up and Sandor was standing in front of me.

    My eyes searched his face to see if he was joking, but his stoic expression was unwavering. I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. As soon as I bit you, the transformation would start."

    I mulled over my options. Honestly, alone, I would be okay. I could outrun the wights incredibly easily. And I needed to feed badly. It would not be long before the frenzy began and I wouldn't be able to control myself.

    "I need to hunt, now. Tell the others I'll be back." Before Sandor had the chance to question me, I was hurdling in the direction of the Wall.

    Several wights moved to follow me, but it was moments before they were left in the dust.

    As I approached the Wall, the hunger had grown far too much, and I knew I couldn't face Davos and the rest of the humans here without slaughtering them.

    So I began my ascent, climbing quickly up the wall of ice, hoping I found an animal before an innocent person.

    I was not south of the Wall for long. After a few minutes in the near vacant forest outside of Winterfell, I found my first victim; a lone deer picking at a bare tree.

    I was quick to pounce, savoring every drop. It wasn't as good as a human's, but I didn't care. You'll eat anything when you're starving.

    I ended up finding one more deer and more surprisingly, a bear. Feeling satisfied, I made my way back toward the group north of the Wall.