Aegor stayed in Crown Town for one night, during which he had a friendly conversation with the first batch of residents who could be considered "their own people"—such as the advance construction team that had rushed there ahead of time, and a few pyromancers who had been forced to relocate. These men were full of complaints, grumbling about the Northern cold, the lack of materials, tools, and manpower, the presence of Wildlings, and the fact that there wasn't a single woman in the entire stronghold… Some even suggested returning home. The Night's Watch had neither the intention nor the means to satisfy all their demands, but manpower was needed at this critical time, so they had to expend great effort and make various promises to persuade them to stay.
After leaving behind a dozen or so Northern soldiers and most of the Night's Watch industry members Ser Rodrik had selected in Crown Town, Aegor set off for the final leg of his journey to the Wall on the morning of the second day. With this group added, the population of Crown Town finally surpassed one hundred. By the time Aegor departed, they had already begun enthusiastically building roadblocks and simple walls, preparing for a life without the lake's protection.
Only a short dozen leagues remained between Crown Town and Castle Black. With the King's Road already in place and favorable weather throughout the journey, Aegor once again laid eyes on Mole's Town and the Wall before dark—places he had hoped never to see again when he left a year prior.
Everyone in the group except Aegor was seeing the Wall for the first time. When the world's largest man-made structure suddenly emerged from the gray sky, rising tall and spanning the entire horizon, they all fell silent. Especially Jaime and the fifty Westerlands soldiers who had accompanied him—seeing what might be the "end of the world" where they would spend the rest of their lives, their silence was laced with complex emotions.
Soon, sentries came to inspect them. Before long, the sound of a horn signaling the return of brothers echoed through the air. The group slowly entered Castle Black under the gaze of countless black-clad men who had rushed out from the towers—some curious, some grim.
Compared to when he left, much had changed here. The most noticeable was the addition of a simple, three-meter-high wooden wall surrounding the entire Castle Black. The wall was thin and looked unstable, swaying in the cold wind, seemingly held upright only by numerous barrels filled with random goods and bags of grain.
The notion that the Night's Watch did not need to defend against attacks from the South, and thus did not need high walls, had gone unchallenged for the past thousand years. But as the Watch declined to the point where even Wildlings dared to launch proactive attacks, that notion had finally become outdated. Perhaps recognizing this, the Night's Watch had begun constructing the wall.
"Aegor!" A surprised voice rang out as a lean and agile figure in black rushed out from the crowd to greet him. As someone who had personally heard Aegor and Tyrion discuss plans to escape the Wall, Jon Snow was likely the most surprised of all the Night's Watch brothers at Aegor's voluntary return.
Soon, more people who knew Aegor appeared and surrounded the arriving group. Some welcomed the Chief Logistics Officer, some inquired about his life in the South, and some even began rummaging through the supplies on the wagons, eager to see what Aegor had brought this time. Aegor recognized many familiar faces among them and was quickly surrounded.
"Don't touch the wagons!" Jon grabbed Aegor's arm. Before he could exchange more than a few words with his old friend, he had to raise his voice to restore order. "Someone go call Ser Bowen Marsh to come and arrange for the goods to be received and taken into the warehouse!"
"I also brought dozens of new recruits and subordinates. Let's arrange their lodging first. Who's in charge of that now?"
"Ser Andrew Tarth. He's the new drillmaster of Castle Black," Jon replied. "Ser Alliser's departure made all of us quite happy."
"Haha." Aegor smiled knowingly. "Commander Mormont's decision carries deep meaning. Don't let his good intentions go to waste."
"Uh…" Jon rubbed his hands awkwardly, not feigning ignorance. "I understand."
As they chatted, Jon looked behind Aegor and quickly recognized Jaime Lannister. He didn't make a fuss, fully aware that the silent, indifferent, and brooding Kingslayer didn't want to be surrounded and "warmly welcomed" like Aegor. This volatile man, who had even slain two kings, also happened to be highly skilled in combat; wise men knew better than to provoke him.
After Aegor finished overseeing the supplies being received and the new drillmaster began arranging lodging for the new arrivals, he quickly noticed something was wrong. "Where's Commander Mormont? And the Vale lords who were exiled here by King Robert after the rebellion?"
One was his only superior in the Night's Watch, the others were members of the League of the Righteous exiled to the Wall because of him—potential enemies. Aegor couldn't help but care about their whereabouts.
"Wildlings have been crossing in large numbers by raft through Seal Bay. Commander Mormont took half the Rangers to defend Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. Ser Jon Royce and the others… took the other half west this morning to rescue several villages attacked by Wildlings who crossed the Wall. Only I was left behind to temporarily manage Castle Black."
"Defending Eastwatch-by-the-Sea? That's something a First Ranger could've handled, yet he went himself, and without taking you…" This was clearly meant to help Jon get used to managing Castle Black on his own. Aegor smiled meaningfully at the young man but felt a vague unease in his heart. "When did the last group of Rangers leave?"
"This morning."
"How many people are left at Castle Black now?"
"A little over two hundred. With the ones you brought, about three hundred."
"This isn't good. There are skinchangers among the Wildlings who can control birds for aerial scouting." Aegor frowned uneasily. "That means the enemy is well aware of our movements. It's highly likely they'll take advantage of Castle Black's vulnerability and launch an attack."
"Skinchangers?" Jon's expression turned serious. "I've heard of them. Where did you learn about this?"
"In a book," Aegor replied. "The same one that mentioned dragonglass can kill White Walkers. Its credibility seems solid."
"It can't be that much of a coincidence, right?" Jon looked uneasy.
"Don't panic. It's just my guess," Aegor said, waving a hand to calm the young man. "Come on, take me up the Wall. Let's see what the Wildlings are up to outside."
"Alright, let's go."
The two walked to the rope hoist and began ascending to the top of the Wall.
After traveling all day from Crown Town, the sky had already begun to darken. In the Haunted Forest, shrouded by a thin veil of cold mist, thousands of campfires flickered and swayed among the branches. Their numbers were great, but compared to the vast, dark wilderness beyond the Wall, they seemed small and powerless.
Looking down from the Wall, the campfires appeared almost at their feet—but that was an illusion caused by the difference in elevation. Even the nearest Wildling camp was at least a mile from the Wall… well out of range for ordinary weapons.
Ordinary weapons, that is. With ballistas or trebuchets, they could still pose a threat.
"Why are they camped so close?"
"I don't know. It wasn't like this when the main Wildling force first arrived, but after staying below the Wall for a few days, their camps kept inching closer." Jon shrugged. "Even though their formation became longer and more spread out, they didn't seem to care. It's like… like they're determined to get close to the Wall at any cost."
Aegor squinted into the distance, wondering: was it the magic embedded within the Wall that made it difficult for the White Walkers and wights to approach, thus forcing the Wildlings to camp so near the edge of the forest in such a seemingly irrational way? Melisandre had said the cold god had left a mark on him—he didn't know if it was still there.
"Strange. There shouldn't be fog at this time," Jon muttered, shielding his eyes with a hand to peer into the distance. His expression quickly changed. "No, that's not fog over the forest—it's smoke! That area looks like it's on fire!"
Aegor stiffened and immediately turned to look in the direction Jon was staring. Sure enough, about a league away, faint flickers of fire glowed among the Haunted Forest. At this distance, ordinary campfires would be invisible to the naked eye. The Wildlings were setting the forest ablaze!
"Seven hells!" It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
Aegor rarely swore, but now he trembled all over. He suddenly realized he had misunderstood what Jojen had said earlier. The boy had been warning him: if he didn't arrive quickly, he would miss the Wildlings' major assault on the Wall.
In other words: if he arrived quickly, he would be just in time for the Wildlings' major assault on the Wall!
(To be continued.)
***
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