Jon
From high above he could hear the sound of horns blowing in unison, once, twice, thrice. The White Walkers were finally coming then. The battle was well and truly under way, from beneath him, he heard Rhaegal give a triumphant screech as more and more of the wights below them were reduced to ash and dust. Beside him his brother, it still felt so strange to say that, yelled in triumph as well, Jon snuck a quick glance below them, on the ground the hordes of wights and giants and mammoths seemed to have been reduced to nothingness, it seemed victory might be imminent, though he still heard the words Melisandre had uttered two moons ago.
None of them had been able to make sense of the words Stannis Baratheon's red woman had uttered, for just as she had finished speaking, the whole of the hall of choosing had shaken with such force Jon had been afraid that it was about to fall in on them. He and Aegon had run out of the hall and had been completely shocked by what they had seen, the Wall in all of its mighty glory was falling, the structure that had stood for 8,000 years since the first battle of Dawn was falling down, and all kinds of horrors were coming forth, spilling into the land of the living.
He had mounted Rhaegal and had flown high into air with his brother beside him and they had reigned fire down on their enemies, but the White Walkers though the initial line had been submerged in fire and ash, the rest of the ancient beasts soon realised when to avoid the dragon fire, and so the wights and giants came marching through as the first line of attack. But in much greater numbers than Jon was used to, thousands and thousands of them came rushing through the debris that the Wall had left, and Jon was not completely certain that the creatures were entirely alive. Their assault was relentless, one beast would fall only to be replaced by five more, so that by the time the lines were done and ash, the dragons would be too tired to be of use against the White Walkers who would attack, in great numbers riding through the debris on ice spiders and bears, slicing men down one by one, and raising a whole new army of wights.
There were other creatures marching with the White Walkers, it was not just the wights and the Giants, other beings that had been laying dormant for thousands of years perhaps as long as the White Walkers or even longer. Creatures that were half human, half beast, that even the White Walkers seemed to be scared of. Though these creatures could be killed by ordinary steel, they never gave the men on the ground to kill them in one on one combat fighting instead in groups, gathering around a soldier or three at a time and picking them off. Whenever they attacked, it would be coming close to light, or as many hours as there could be of light now that the Wall had fallen, the dragons would be spent, needing to rest, Jon and Aegon covered in a litany of bruises from having to fly down low to reign fire on the wights and mammoths. They needed to learn more about the creatures they were facing if they were to stand any chance of preventing them from getting further than the Gift.
Jon jumped down from Rhaegal, the light had come and with it some semblance of peace for now atleast. He made his way toward the Hall of Choosing, where he had once sat during his first few days as a black brother, Aegon Targaryen walked beside him, things were not so simple between them, the King had accepted Jon as his brother after seeing him ride Rhaegal in countless battles, but there was still some tension between the two of them. Still they had a common foe right now, and with Shireen dead, lying in a hole somewhere, her ashes that was, Jon had made sure that both she and her mother had been burnt, his title as Lord Protector seemed a bit empty. They entered the hall and Jon was surprised to see a figure standing there speaking to his uncle, a person he hadn't seen for at least two years. "Sam?" he asked.
"Jon!" His old friend beamed.
"I thought you were in the citadel?" Jon asked as he walked up and shook his old friend's hand.
Sam swallowed, nervous once more as he saw Aegon standing beside Jon. "Well I was, I mean I've nearly completed much of my chain, but the Watch needed me more, and well I've found out some things that could be useful for us."
Jon was interested, but the King spoke first. "Well? What is this news you have to share with us?" he asked.
Sam stuttered out the next few words. "Well we know fire and obsidian can kill the wights and White Walkers, but the Lord Commander told me about these new creatures that have been attacking with the White Walkers. The half men half beast creatures."
"Yes what of them?" Aegon asked.
"Well, they, they can be beaten, but first a sacrifice has to be made." Sam replied somewhat sheepishly.
"A sacrifice? What do you mean?" Jon asked.
"A blood sacrifice, these creatures are beings of Ice. The only way to end their threat is to sacrifice a creature of fire." Sam replied.
"But the dragons are our only hope of defeating the White Walkers! We can't just sacrifice the only tools we have for beating them so we can beat some half human beast!" Jon argued.
"Aye, I will not give up Acteon to beat some half human evil, it cannot be done. I will not allow it." Aegon said, his voice laced with anger.
"It may be the only choice, the realm suffered once at the hands of the dragons. Such creatures are not meant for peace." Jon's uncle Benjen replied.
"Aye the realm bled because of the dragons once before. And they are always tiring out before they can be of any proper use." Randyll Tarly argued.
"There must be another way, there has to be." Jon said, searching for an answer, he had not seen Ghost since that day two moons ago when the wall had fallen, he did not wish to believe his direwolf was dead.
"What of Melisandre?" Aegon asked softly.
"The red woman? She is a person, not a creature of fire. You cannot be considering sacrificing her Aegon." Jon exclaimed.
"She has not been of use to anyone. Stannis Baratheon died, and he was supposed to be the Prince, this chosen one. She has gone mad, she must die, she is of fire. Her god if he has any power will allow us to beat these creatures." Aegon said a stubborn set to his expression.
Jon sighed, and looked toward his uncle and his friend trying to gauge their reaction. His uncle had a very serious expression on his face when he replied. "Aerys Targaryen was more than passing fond of burning people alive as well. I do not like this solution, but if it will save us from these beasts then we must do something about it."
Sam was next to speak. "It could work, we will never know unless we try it."
"Aye it could work, or it could fail. One way or another we must find out how to beat these beings." Randyll Tarly said.
Jon sighed and then looked at Aegon and said "Very well, then we shall have to do it."
And so that night in front of the men who remained at Castle Black some 10,000 men of the 20,000 that had been left to hold the Castle whilst other men had been sent to relieve Eastwatch and Shadow Tower, watched as Melisandre of Asshai was roasted by dragonfire, both Rhaegal and Acteon unleashed jets of fire onto the woman, who did not die screaming but laughing, calling out to her fiery god on high. Once the burning was done, Jon felt sick to his stomach but he could not rest his weary head, instead he had to stand sentinel next to his dragon watching from one part of the Wall that still stood, waiting and watching for the creatures of darkness to come out once more.
The first signs that something was amiss, was when Jon heard wolf howl, not just any wolf, his own, Ghost had returned from wherever he had been for the past two moons, but with him came another direwolf, one with black as night fur and yellow eyes that seemed maddened with pain or anger. Ghost was covered in blood, whether it was his own or another being's Jon knew not, he only knew he was relieved to see Ghost again, but then a horn sounded, followed by a screech, a screech that sent the hairs on Jon's arms stand up and soon the beating of wings could be heard.
Ice Dragons, beings of fairytale, had been awoken, from where he knew not, but they were coming fast towards them, ridden by those half human half beast creatures, three of them flying as fast their ice covered wings would allow them. Jon stood rooted to the spot, unable to move as the dragons came and covered the land and the people below in Ice, the giants fled from the beings, as did the White Walkers, the men on the ground stood not a chance. Eventually Jon was snapped out of his revelry when he saw Aegon and his red she dragon Acteon flying to meet these beasts, whistling for Rhaegal, Jon waited a moment before jumping onto his dragon's back, drawing Winter's Fury from its sheath on his back.
The battle was fierce, Rhaegal smashed into one of the Ice Dragons and through his connection with the dragon, Jon felt himself shiver at the contact, a cold unlike anything he had ever felt. Both beasts screeched, and soon Ice and fire were being unleashed high in the sky tooth and claw were being engaged, and neither beast seemed to be winning any headway. Jon heard a triumphant roar from somewhere near to him and saw one of the Ice Dragons and its rider plummeting to the ground Aegon and Acteon had won, but both looked to be worse for wear.
"Jump onto the beast Stark!" Aegon shouted over the roar of the ice and fire.
Jon barely heard the words, but drawing Winter's Fury, he loosened the straps holding him in place on Rhaegal and nearly fell of the dragon as Rhaegal dived down to bite at the Ice Dragon's neck. Clinging on for dear life, Jon felt himself go cold all over as a White Walker touched him on the arm. He jumped back in fright as the cold of the creature's blade touched his skin, his left arm froze over. "Come Stttttttttark." The creature seemed to say. Its eyes glistening maddeningly.
Jon gasped for breath, and struggled to raise his sword high enough to remove the White Walker from his arm, but then just as he had managed to get his sword up ready to strike the White Walker was killed by a gust of ice, and Jon turned to find one of the half human beasts looking at Jon with something akin to familiarity on his face. "Jon Stark, we meet at last." Jon turned to look at where the White Walker was and found to his surprise that the creature had faded. "Oh don't worry about that white walker, she's dead. Just like the rest of them, apart from that foolish king of theirs who your king is fighting right now."
"Who, are you?" Jon asked, wondering why the beast's dragon was not attacking Rhaegal and what had happened to the other dragon that had attacked Rhaegal.
It seemed the beast recognised what Jon was looking for, for he said "Don't worry your dragon defeated the other Ice Dragon. I must thank you for that. But surely you must know who I am Jon Stark. I am in all the tales told of the Long Night and the White Walkers, it was I who wed the white walker in the tales." Jon was stunned into silence. "Ah, so you do know who I am. That is good. I was afraid most of you would have forgotten me. After all it has been so long."
"What are you talking about?" Jon said
"I am you, you fool. I am the Night's King. He who wed a white walker for love, but was crossed from the histories for my sins. I am you, just as I am he of the wolf head in the trees beyond the cave." The creature spoke, its head twisting into a wolf's head.
Jon was silent. "Such a shame, that I have to kill you. It would have been nice to get to know you, well me I suppose as I am now. But alas, I did strike a deal, and my wife was never the most patient of women." The beast said, and so the battle began.
Dragon fought dragon, steel clashed with steel, and Jon was in a daze throughout the whole of the battle. On and on it went, ducking and dodging. Hacking and slashing, avoiding jets of fire and ice as they were unleashed from either dragon, Jon was dazed and not sure what was happening, but it seemed some part of him knew on instinct what needed to be done. And so he allowed his body to do the fighting, as if by memory, when the beast swung from his left, he blocked it, when he swung from his right the beast blocked it. On and on it went, the endless dance, as all around them the creatures of the darkness died and killed, as Aegon fought the Queen of the Others, the battle raged on and on.
Suddenly Jon found a gap in the beast's armour and lunged off of Rhaegal onto the beast's dragon, and shoved his sword into the beast's armour, but the beast leapt of his dragon as well, and brought Jon tumbling with him down to the ground. Where as they fell the hacked and slashed at each other, drawing blood both red and blue, until the ground came into contact and the beast turned to Jon and said "This is where it ends Jon, this is where I die Where we both die." The beast disappeared, and Jon crashed into the snow covered ground, his ice covered arm broke and the force of the impact knocked Jon unconscious.
Around him the Queen of the Others bled to death, her form reverting back to the form she had had as a young woman, a woman with fiery red hair and green eyes. Aegon Targaryen roared his victory for all the world to hear, but more men were dying around him, Jon Stark the Lord of Winterfell heard none of this though, he dreamt an old dream. They were seven against three, a bat, a falling star and a white bull, and he, he was the key. A ray of sunlight pierced through the grey clouds and rain began to fall.