The Dragon & The Wolf (Daenarya)

chapter 18

The strategy was sound. Daenerys didn't doubt it was their only chance of success. Without Bran and Melisandre, their connection to the future was broken. What would happen next was just as unknown to them as it was to everybody else now. The only hint they had was Bran's last piece of advice. It's why they left the day after honoring him in the crypt, why she left Arya chained unconscious in the dungeon when she wanted to be with her more than anything.

According to the dead man they needed to meet the Night King and kill him before he could reach Winterfell. The young Stark had been supremely confident that waiting inside the gates was a plan destined to fail. The White Walkers would overrun them and once Winterfell was theirs, the rest Westeros wouldn't be far behind.

The scheme called for their forces to be divided. The Dothraki would be the first wave. Atop their fastest horses they'd have the task of dealing with the Wights. For any plot against the Night King to prevail, they needed to create separation between the White Walkers and their legion of Wights. They were doomed unless the Dothraki could lure them into a chase. On horseback they'd have the advantage, and through heavy snows the Wights would be bogged down and less dangerous.

Yara's force was made up of Northmen, soldiers from the Vale and the Ironborn. Their task was to finish what the Dothraki began. Their role was to use flaming arrows from elevated positions to thin out the Wight horde. While the majority of the men attacked the Wights, Yara and her best would focus on the White Walkers controlling them. Fletchers had been working non-stop to increase the supply of dragonglass tipped arrows. For every White Walker they killed, handfuls of Wights would fall.

Only after the Wights were largely engaged would the other two teams reveal themselves. Grey Worm would lead the surviving Unsullied. Mixed in they had a few dozen sell-swords who'd joined their cause as well. He'd take the dedicated, fearless soldiers straight at the Night King's layer of protective White Walkers. Daenerys had spent time drawing a diagram of what she'd seen from Drogon's back. She did her best to recall the formation they stood in, how far apart they were and even what animals they had with them, be it horse, snow bear or dragon. If they were lucky, without the Wights to rely on, the Night King will need to send most of his men against the Unsullied, leaving him vulnerable for Jon, Daenerys and the others.

Just as Bran said, Jon had picked the best of them. Brienne, Jaime, Jorah and Daenerys. She didn't belong with them, she was barely able to swing a sword but no one else could be counted on to tame her dragon.

Including Jon, three men and two women aided by Drogon would wait in the clouds until the fighting was at its peak and then would attack the Night King directly. He was sure to have several White Walker guards, but the objective was clear. Kill the leader.

The dragons were the only part that couldn't be accounted for. They intended to use Drogon to place them close enough to the Night King to strike, but beyond that what Daenerys's largest son did or didn't do was unpredictable. No one had seen or heard Rhaegal since the last battle and Daenerys feared the worst. Between the men and the dragons, they'd done Viserion harm, cutting his belly, and biting his neck but he'd been healthy enough to ferry the Night King away. Daenerys steeled herself in preparation for watching her children fight again, probably to the death.

"What are our chances?" she asked Jon.

He looked up from the map he'd been reviewing. "A coin toss," he admitted. "If we can get the Wights coming this way," he said, moving a block to show his idea, "bring Yara's men down here," he said using another, "maybe we can do it."

She appreciated his honesty, but it didn't inspire much in the way of confidence. It must have shown on her face. "You don't have to be there tomorrow. You can go back to Winterfell, stay with Sansa, with Arya."