Chapter 190: Playing Cat and Mouse
Beyond the Wall, True North
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric chose to follow his own trackers to ensure their safety, rather than fly solo with Hedwig.
Following the White Walkers from above was difficult, and impossible if, as before, they had buried themselves and the wights under their command in the snow.
And he didn't want to endanger Hedwig by asking her to fly closer to the ground.
So he followed his trackers from the sky, ensuring their safety while also looking for anything they might miss.
And if he spotted anything that might pose a danger to his trackers, he would alert them. His trackers and scouts had long since become accustomed to Hedwig's warnings and commands.
His trackers and Hedwig caught sight of Wights the next day, and they immediately reported to Domeric. They were not far from where Domeric and his group were.
He told everyone in the group to prepare for battle and be ready for an ambush at any moment.
White Walkers had ambushed him in the past, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to him. Although their magical armor protected them from many dangers, the armor also had its weaknesses and limitations.
When everyone was done getting ready, they started walking towards where the Wights were, expecting to be ambushed by a horde of Wights at any moment.
But the expected ambush never came. When they saw the Wights from afar, they began to follow them. But the Wights didn't seem to care about them.
When Domeric and his group finally slowed down because of the group's stamina issues, the Wights continued their way at their usual pace and left them behind.
He didn't dare send out his trackers after Wights. If he lost them, then the chances that his group would be ambushed in the future increased tenfold.
He didn't know why the White Walker wasn't coming to face him.
Maybe it somehow found out about the properties of his magical armor, and they had Dragonglass. So, it didn't want an open confrontation where it would be at a disadvantage.
Maybe it was cautious by nature.
Maybe it was luring them into another trap, a larger one. Or perhaps it just didn't care about them.
Whatever its reason, the White Walker kept on moving, and its army of Wights was moving along with it.
The problem was that, for all the help that his magical armor gave, it didn't increase the stamina of wearers. Because of that, even if the Wights walked slowly during the day, they increased the gap between them at night when he and his group had to stop to rest while the Wights, being the undead they were, continued walking.
Every now and then, his group would catch sight of the Wights, but from a distance, they looked just like humans.
But the Wights didn't stop to eat, build a camp, build a fire, or rest, and the more astute people in his group quickly picked up on that and started believing him.
After all, if someone didn't eat, sleep, rest, or light a fire to stay warm in this cold place, could they still be human?
And if a Northerner saw something non-human but human-like in these lands beyond the Wall, the first thing that naturally came to their mind would be the Others.
It wasn't something they could control. Even though no one believed in the White Walkers, they grew up with their stories. And the White Walkers were always the villains in those stories.
So, while some in the group began to believe him after witnessing the Wights' behavior, it only made them more nervous rather than relieved.
No matter what anyone said, in this world, for humans, especially Northerners, the Others were the worst enemies imaginable.
And even the bravest warriors among them couldn't help but be afraid if they genuinely believed they were facing a White Walker.
Domeric was now beginning to regret his haphazard decision to allow the heirs and some Night's Watch commanders to accompany his group.
If they hadn't been here, he would have already mounted his hoverboard and begun raining down wildfire orbs on the White Walker and his wights.
No, that wasn't entirely true. If he hadn't included them in the group, he would have already set out for the Wall with the Wight he had previously captured. And he wouldn't be chasing the new White Walker right now.
Yes, having someone else from the North witness the White Walkers and the Wights under their command would significantly advance his cause, especially if the witnesses were the heirs of the Northern Lords and Lord Stark's brother, Benjen Stark.
But the price he paid was that he couldn't use magic. At least not openly. It was true that he didn't want others to know he was a wizard. But putting that reason aside, solving the White Walker problem with magic would have been counter to Domeric's true purpose.
The reason he went to all this trouble to prove to the Northern Lords, and then to Westeros, that the White Walkers were real was to attract them to his side so he could confront the threat that awaited them together.
And to achieve this, he had to fight the White Walkers normally and then return with a Wight to show that this enemy was at least a foe that could be resisted.
This was the primary reason he allowed the other heirs and commanders to accompany him. Fighting the White Walkers and returning victorious would be far more effective than doing it alone.
However, if he used magic in front of the others and thus achieved victory over the White Walkers, it would have the exact opposite effect he desired.
Upon hearing this news, the lords, and especially those in the South, would expect HIM to resolve the issue rather than unite their forces to oppose the White Walkers.
And most likely, once he had solved this problem for them, they would join forces to eliminate him.
Therefore, Domeric had to solve this problem with normal methods. That's why they continued to pursue the White Walker and Wight armies.
They spent the next 5 days playing cat and mouse with the Wights before finally stumbling across something that terrified them to their bones.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.191: Magical Dominance
Ch.192: Falling into the Same Trap