Chapter 146: After the Collision
Northwestern Area of the True North
POV of Domeric Bolton
The Gryffindor sword cut into White Walker's armor and dug deep into its chest, and for a moment, it just stared at the scene in what Domeric could only assume was disbelief.
Then, with a piercing wail and screech, the White Walker turned into ice and shattered into thousands of pieces.
'What? That's bullshit.' Domeric thought, wanting to study its body and find an easier way to kill the White Walkers because even using a Valyrian Steel sword to kill them was much harder than he had initially expected.
Then, as if their strings had been cut, the Wights around him disintegrated into bones and skin and fell onto the ground. Dead.
He had felt the magical connection between the White Walker and the Wights and had thought that something like this might happen upon its death.
But even if that meant that they wouldn't have to fight the whole army of Wights, it presented a problem of its own.
As the undead army died down and he was able to get a better look at his surroundings, he noticed that the Wights that he had caught within the roots had also disintegrated.
Which meant that despite all the trouble he had put in, he had gained absolutely nothing in return.
It took them the whole night to collect all the bodies scattered through the battlefield.
He was not sure if another White Walker could reconnect the bodies and raise them from the dead once again, so he was going to burn all of them before leaving.
With the absence of the White Walker, the magic slowly returned to normal, which allowed him to help his men with his magic, even though he was slowly starting to feel the effects of magical exhaustion.
The White Walker had snapped two of Varko's ribs when it kicked the man away, so his best swordsman was out of commission for the time being. Domeric healed the ribs as best he could by fusing them with magic, but Varko needed a little more rest to recover fully.
The 10 men he had brought with him were fine. A bit shaken from the whole experience, as the monsters from their worst nightmare just became real, but otherwise, they were doing just fine for now. He was sure that he would have to deal with a few PTSD cases once they returned, but for now, they will continue to do their duty.
The ravens also returned half an hour after the White Walker's demise. And with the location of another White Walker, as Bloodraven already knew about their failure.
But for now, they were in no shape to continue their journey, and he had told them to rest for the day. They would continue their hunt the next day.
And even if he said that he didn't really gain anything from this battle, that was not really true.
He had found out how the White Walkers and their Wights fought, and that information in and of itself was worth its weight in gold.
As his men slept in their tents, he wrote a report detailing how the Wights and White Walkers fought, along with a few methods and formations for fighting and defeating them.
With how effective the Dragonglass turned out to be in this battle, he had a feeling that he would have to get all of his men equipped with it before the end of this summer.
And Dragonglass seemed the most logical solution, not just for equipping his men, but for many other methods he envisioned.
Domeric couldn't use Valyrian Steel for depletable resources like arrowheads, grenades, bombs, and perhaps even bullets.
Although he had found many Valyrian Steel weapons and items during his explorations of Valyria, he could never use them for such depleting resources.
Every gram of Valyrian Steel was precious. Therefore, Dragonglass was Domeric's only remaining resource.
Yes, Dragonglass wasn't as strong and durable as Valyrian Steel and would shatter quickly on a hard impact, but the advantage was that a small piece of Dragonglass could kill Wights and White Walkers on contact.
Frankly, it would be more accurate to say "destroy" rather than "kill." Because the Wights and White Walkers were apparently already dead and rose again as a result of necromancy, and Dragonglass seems to be causing them to vanish by corrupting their necromancy magic.
And that was good news for Domeric. If he had to deal a mortal wound with Dragonglass, it might have been difficult, but simply striking a blow against Wights and White Walkers wasn't that difficult. At least, not as difficult as engaging them in close combat with a cold weapon.
He absolutely should prepare Dragonglass Arrowheads for Ygritte and the other skilled archers. Hunting wights with bows might be a bit wasteful, but hunting White Walkers with bows from a distance would definitely give them an advantage. And in this regard, Domeric had high hopes for Ygritte.
Domeric also had high hopes for Dragonglass grenades. Of course, he needed to train his men first on how to use them. Otherwise, they would inevitably harm themselves and their allies.
However, with a bit of training, Dragonglass shrapnel grenades could be a significant weapon against Wights and White Walkers.
Frankly, both his flame spells and wildfire spheres disappointed Domeric.
Yes, they were effective against wights, but they were significantly inadequate against White Walkers. Therefore, he had high expectations for Dragonglass shrapnel grenades.
No matter how powerful the White Walkers were individually, they couldn't deflect all the shrapnel from a grenade exploding in front of them.
Perhaps he should further develop their magical armor and make it more resistant to grenades. This way, even if a grenade exploded near someone, they wouldn't be harmed, and if necessary, their men could detonate a grenade right in front of them.
But despite all this, it would have been better if he hadn't based his ideas solely on Dragonglass and Valyrian Steel. Yes, those two materials were effective against the Others, but that didn't mean other methods and materials weren't effective.
Dragon Flame could likely counter the White Walkers' ice and death elements. Should he bring forward his plan to hatch the dragon eggs?
Also, learning the flame spells that can be cast with sword foci would probably be beneficial. Flaming Swords were not only cool, but they also had the potential to counter the White Walkers' cold element.
Anyway, that was a matter for later. Domeric needed to rest now and go back to searching for White Walkers tomorrow.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.147: Something Went Wrong
Ch.148: Mission Accomplished